A Bag of Candy and Spicy Curry
by Captain Not-So-Obvious
Summary: After Natsumi is severely injured in a weapon test, how will Giroro react when he finds out Kururu was behind it? Who will supervise the frogs now that Natsumi is gone for some time? Rated T for homosexuality. First 10 or so chapters are being rewritten, so I will replace those as they are completed.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay before I begin, this is my first time writing fanfiction yay. C: I've written fiction before and thought it would be nice to try fanfics. R&R if you want. I'd really appreciate the feedback. Honestly, the hardest thing about this project of mine was figuring out how to publish all the chapters. I think I'm still missing some stuff, but I'll get there eventually. ;=;  
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**Disclaimer: Characters in said story do not belong to me and I am in no way trying to make a profit from them. So please don't sue me, I'm just a regular guy with a strict budget.  
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**Gaah, anyways. I'll try to keep this story updated with new chapters. I'm hoping at least one chapter every two days or so. I work on this story for about two to three hours every night. and that includes all the derping around i do. shows how i get distracted easily. well let's cut the horrid grammar and lack of capitalization. here's the story and enjoy. :D  
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**Chapter 1 – Yay Back to Tokyo**

A trio of Keronians was all present in a hovercraft headed for Tokyo in the early morning. Another failed mission in Beijing hung on their shoulders and dampened the mood, despite the fact that it was a nice, June day. Two of the Keronians, a green frog named Keroro who was at the wheel and a blue frog named Tamama, were busy whining and complaining as they pointed fingers, blaming one another for the disappointing result of the mission that they had thought up the day before. The other Keronian, a red frog named Giroro, could've cared less about the failure. He was used to disappointments like this one and today's had been no different. Besides, his mind was much too occupied with thoughts of his one desire: Natsumi Hinata. He had been away from Natsumi for too long. The simple thought of seeing her kept Giroro's spirits up as he sat in his chair, tuning out the annoying frogs that he chose to accompany. Giroro knew that those two would need supervision, especially on the outrageous missions that their leader organized. Why Giroro continued to put up with his sergeant Keroro was still a mystery to be solved.. Tamama was fine, although a little dull, but he was a private, after all. He decided that he should be more lenient on the poor guy. Keroro, on the other hand, had no excuse for the failure of a frog that he was. After four failed missions in the past two weeks, the whole platoon's morale had reached its lowest.

The situation was so dire that Dororo and Kururu decided to stay in Tokyo, knowing that this would most likely result in more wasted funds. Luckily, there was some good fortune to their decision. With two of their platoon members present at their base, they could keep their base guarded from prying eyes, such as that one journalist girl that went to Natsumi's school. In the Hinata residence, most of the family was very busy and rarely present at home. Aki Hinata was busy with work again, working on another one of her manga. Fuyuki Hinata was off at summer camp. His participation was forced, much to his dismay. Natsumi and her mom agreed that Fuyuki needed to work on his social skills and resorted to sending the boy to a summer camp to meet people and hopefully make some new friends that were normal. Natsumi spent time outside the house with her friend Koyuki sometimes, but she wasn't as occupied as the other two members of the family. She was usually alone with Kururu, but she didn't mind. Natsumi saw this as an opportunity to keep the frogs in check. She would make sure they wouldn't try anything dangerous. Meanwhile, Mois had taken a vacation and was probably somewhere in space destroying some planet. Everyone was out and busy, which was uncommon, but nothing could be done about the situation.

Giroro snapped back to reality, where he met the angry eyes of Keroro. Giroro said nothing and glared back with equal force. He wasn't threatened by that frog one bit. In fact, Keroro's attempts at intimidating Giroro were laughable. He knew it wouldn't be worth the trouble asking the frog why he was staring at him, so he kept his mouth shut. Where was Tamama? He was always with the sergeant, constantly trying to win his affection. He found the frog flying the hovercraft, pouting to himself.

"Tamama and I have come to an agreement," Keroro yelled directly at Giroro. Oh boy. Giroro rolled his eyes and turned his back to his sergeant. After a pause, he continued and pointed a finger at Giroro. "We know who to blame for this mission's failure. After moments of arguing and reasoning we deci–" Giroro chuckled to himself, interrupting Keroro in the process. He could never imagine Keroro using reasoning to solve a problem. "What's so funny, huh? You know I don't like it when I'm not part of a good joke!" Keroro was practically screaming at him now, but Giroro stood unfazed. Keroro continued pestering and bugging Giroro until he could take it no longer.

"JUST TELL ME AND SHUT UP ALREADY! YOU'RE WASTING MY TIME!" Giroro yelled back, breathing heavily. He was teetering on the edge of insanity. He seriously considered shooting the frog right then and there. He placed his hands where his gun should've been. It was there, just in case he needed it for an emergency, more specifically, an annoying-green-frog-that-wouldn't-shut-up emergency.

"No, I won't tell you." countered Keroro. Giroro's jaw dropped and his eyes were filled with rage.

"BUT YOU JUST SAID Y–" Giroro yelled once again in disbelief and suddenly stopped mid-sentence, trying to calm himself with a sigh. Did this guy want to die today?

"I won't answer someone who's suck a jerk," Keroro quickly turned his back to Giroro and walked away with a humph.

This was the last straw. Giroro grimaced and his face contorted into a figure of annoyance-fueled anger. He couldn't take it anymore. He quickly ran up to Keroro and punched him from behind and watched him fly across the hovercraft. Wait, was Tamama watching? He didn't want Tamama to freak out if he saw him punching Keroro from behind. Giroro turned around and eyed the private, who was still driving the vehicle with the same mopey face. He wondered if the private was even aware of what was going on around him. A few moments later, Keroro came up behind him, attempting to return a punch, but collapsed on the floor. As Giroro returned to his chair, his mind filled with thoughts of Natsumi, calming him. It would only be a few more hours until they returned home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Kururu's Inventive Invention**

Natsumi sat on the couch in her living room, eating a piece of cake that she had made last night. With nobody in the house, she decided to treat herself and allowed herself to eat whatever she wanted. Today was just like any other summer day: clear skies, a cheerful sun, and the perfect temperature for swimming. She didn't feel like going outside though, she had more important matters to attend to. She found herself constantly checking up on the frogs, especially that yellow frog with the swirly glasses. He was the most intelligent of the platoon and knew how to keep things hidden from view. Dororo, on the other hand, was a decent frog. He wasn't as weird as all the other frogs (when his trauma switch wasn't turned on) so she paid less attention to him, knowing he wouldn't be up to anything shady, unlike Kururu. Anyways, Dororo preferred to stay with Koyuki in her little home near the forest, secluded from the city. She could imagine Kururu laughing to himself in his lab. That frog's laugh always made her feel uncomfortable and unsafe. She decided it was time to check up on the frog for the fifth time today. Knowing he was intelligent, Natsumi tried her best to make her entrances random, hoping to catch him off guard. Was she getting paranoid? She quickly dismissed the thought. She was just making sure their house didn't get destroyed for the billionth time this year.

She walked down to the lab and saw Kururu busy surfing the Internet. She peered around the lab, looking for anything that would prove Kururu had been scheming. Perhaps there was a giant laser gun hidden somewhere in this room. While she imagined all the horrible things that could have been made in the scientist's lab, she slowly and quietly walked in, making sure to watch her step. She heard Kururu laughing his normal, but strange, laugh. It sent a chill up her spine as he approached her. She was rarely afraid of the frogs, so why was she trembling?

"Ku ku ku, I know you're there. You're so bad at sneaking up on me," he said with his usual annoying tone. Natsumi let out a deep sigh, discouraged that she was found, and approached the frog's computer.

"You better not try anything funny, frog. I better not see any strange things lying around the house or else. I'm keeping a close eye on you," she said as she moved closer to Kururu, trying to impose her superiority on him.

Of course, it was futile and he simply laughed in reply, "Ku ku ku, whatever you say, dear." He adjusted his glasses and returned to surfing the Internet.

Natsumi took one last glance around the room, hoping for even the slightest bit of evidence to hold against Kururu, but none could be found. Disappointed, she walked out of the lab and back to her couch, where her piece of cake was waiting for her.

Back down in the lab, Kururu pressed a button on his remote and a gap in the ground appeared, revealing a piece of machinery that resembled a cannon. Kururu was dying to test it, but it was only a prototype. Nonetheless, he loved testing his inventions, prototype or not. This particular weapon was supposed to be modeled after the cannons that were once used in warfare on the Pekoponian planet. Everything was functional, but he had no clue to his toy's destructive power. He wanted to test it now, but restrained himself, especially since Natsumi was keeping an extra close watch on him. Unfortunately, his impatience and curiosity overwhelmed him and he was compelled to test his new invention. As a platform raised his new invention, Kururu made the final preparations.

"Clicky." He pressed another button on his remote and contently watched as his creation came to life.

In the living room, a soft, but clear, whirring noise could be heard. Natsumi knew this could only be the work of Kururu, and she was eager to catch him in the act. She ran wildly to the lab, this time making no attempt at hiding her presence.

She arrived at the familiar lab once again, only to find a huge cannon at the center of the room. The whirring noise she heard earlier was even louder and made her ears cry out in pain. She held her hands up to her ears and blocked out the sound in an attempt to protect her ears from that deafening noise. Kururu, who was encased in a plastic dome to protect himself in case of an emergency, chuckled to himself with his hand over his mouth. She knew that Kururu was bound to do something like this, but she didn't actually have a plan of action in case of an emergency such as this one. Despite being without a plan, she recklessly charged at the yellow frog, hands still over her ears.

"Do you like my new invention? I based it off of your world's puny cannons and simply enlarged them and gave them more destructive power. I was bored, so I wanted to try something new, ku ku ku." He let out another chuckle and continued to stare towards the cannon and Natsumi.

Natsumi was still running towards Kururu, even faster than before. She was desperate to end this. Kururu had gone too far this time and she had to stop him. Kururu stood still, still staring at the charging Natsumi, and chuckled again. Natsumi wasn't used to this kind of reaction before. If these were normal circumstances, Kururu would be running away from her, but these weren't normal circumstances. Kururu had just built an enormous weapon that really did have the potential to wreak havoc upon the world.

As she was lost in thought, the room filled with a blinding white light and remained in that state for a few seconds. The blast could be felt throughout the lab and without the protective dome around Kururu, he would've been hurt. Unfortunately for Natsumi, who had no protection whatsoever, was bruised in many places on her body. Although she didn't take a direct hit, the power of Kururu's new invention was too powerful and she suffered severe damage even if she wasn't hit directly. She lay on the ground alive under a piece of light scrap metal, but unconscious, to the side of the lab, almost hidden from view. She was burned in many places along with the bruises, but luckily she was still breathing.

A brief pause was then followed by Kururu's laugh. "Ku ku ku, the test was a success. Is that Natsumi I see on the ground? I think I'll leave her there unconscious until Giroro arrives. The look on his face will be funny when he sees her. Then I'll make her conscious again, ku ku.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Yes, Finally Home**

Giroro was about to crack. Did Keroro ever lose his voice, because he wouldn't keep quiet. To make matters worse, his voice was extremely annoying. The trip back home felt two days total, but in reality, it had only been a couple of hours. He was this close to pulling out his gun, but he willed himself not to shoot his own leader. He had already slugged the frog three times total, but to Giroro, it had seemed to him that he punched Keroro more than ten times due to the insanity that was building up inside him. He knew that he would have to deal with his leader's attitude. He was the leader after all, despite his MANY, MANY flaws. Hoping to find a little peace and sanity, he walked up to Tamama, who was still driving the hovercraft.

"Hey, soldier. How close are we to home?" He asked while trying his best to calm his nerves.

"Well, according to this map, I'm pretty sure it should be right below these clouds!" Tamama said cheerfully, who had removed his mopey face an hour ago. Apparently, Keroro blamed Tamama for the failure and as punishment, Keroro made Tamama take over the wheel, who resented the idea but still drove the hovercraft. Sergeant's word was law, after all, even if his words were stupid. Later though, Tamama figured out that he loved to drive the flying vehicle, and asked Keroro to be the permanent driver, who couldn't resist the offer. Less work for him was always worth whatever the cost.

Tamama's response was the best thing that happened during their trip home. Giroro ran to one of the windows of the hovercraft as they descended through the clouds. Giroro couldn't wait to see the familiar neighborhood with its familiar sights and sees. He had closed his eyes so he could surprise himself with the sudden burst of familiarity until he was certain that they were out of the clouds. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes to see...

Water. Everywhere.

Maybe Giroro was dreaming. Maybe Keroro had finally gotten to his head. He didn't want to believe that they were still above the ocean and rubbed his eyes vigorously. After opening his rubbed eyes, he was sent back to the world surrounded by the large sheet of water that spread in every direction. There wasn't even any form of land in sight. Clenching his fists, Giroro stared intently at Tamama with stern eyes.

"Oops," said Tamama with the most innocent voice he could muster.

Words could not describe how angry Giroro was with the private. He didn't care about the fact that Tamama had a low rank. He had had enough of this nonsense. All Giroro wanted was go back home. He face palmed and let out a deep sigh, obviously trying to calm himself down and restrain himself from hurting Tamama. Giroro firmly pushed Tamama out of the seat, but not hard enough to injure him. He rarely drove the aircraft, but he was desperately inclined to return home to see Natsumi. He figured that this was a special situation and took over the controls of the hovercraft. He collected his bearings, and turned the vehicle to the right position. It turned out that Tamama had been guiding the group north when they were supposed to be heading east, but the mishap didn't add too much extra time to their total travel time. They would arrive at Tokyo one hour later than usual, much to Giroro's dismay, but the red frog was relieved that Tamama hadn't been steering back east to China, or else he would've really considered punching the young private.

Giroro continued to steer the hovercraft, admiring the ocean view while Tamama and Keroro were busy working on another mission plan. It was amazing how Keroro quickly bounced back after a failure, Giroro remarked to himself. That was probably one of Keroro's only outstanding abilities. He never stayed in a pit for too long. He tuned out the duo in order to focus on steering the aircraft. He double checked his bearings to make sure he wasn't leading them even farther away from home. They were on the right track and they would be arriving at the Japanese coastline soon. Giroro switched on the cloaking device installed on the hovercraft. Out in the ocean, they rarely needed to use the anti-barrier. They only used it to hide from passing boats, and they hadn't passed many boats on their way back.

A few minutes later, land was below them, putting any doubt Giroro had about his navigational skills to rest. He was certain of where to go after they arrived on land. In the ocean, there weren't many familiar landmarks due to them being surrounded by the same image of the ocean's surface during the whole portion of the journey that took place above the water. On land, Giroro recognized many landmarks that were dotted across the Japanese landmass. Recently, Keroro had organized missions which included many parts of Japan, so Giroro and the rest of the platoon were able to vaguely pinpoint their location on the map. This part of the journey would be a breeze, as they inched closer and closer to home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Surprised Indeed**

When the trio arrived home just at the beginning of sunset, oblivious to the damage that was awaiting them in the lab down below, Keroro and Tamama immediately rushed inside, leaving Giroro outside, who was returning his extra supplies to his tent. He placed the supplies that he had no use of during the mission, which was basically everything he had brought, much to his disappointment. It brought him down whenever he wasn't given the chance to engage in combat, especially with people he deemed worthy of being his opponent. As he set his belongings in their correct places in his tent, Miss Furbottom was eagerly waiting for him. The cat had missed Giroro a great deal and snuggled up to the red frog, who accepted her embrace without argument. He gently moved the cat aside and finalized the placing of his extra stuff, which included numerous grenades, guns, and other weapons. He walked outside his tent with a relaxed look on his face. He didn't notice the large weight of the things he had brought along with him until now, and his back was sore. Finally without a burden, Giroro's mind drifted to Natsumi once again. It was sunset, so Giroro expected Natsumi to be cooking dinner for her mom and herself, and walked with big strides towards the front door and entered the house. It was clear that Giroro was very excited to see Natsumi after his long absence.

Inside, Keroro and Tamama were already sitting in front of the television eating cheese puffs. This was typical behavior of the two, which annoyed Giroro to a great extent, having just calmed himself down from the very stressful trip home. Weren't they planning another invasion? Keroro's attention span was miniscule. He walked to the kitchen, now taking small steps, stalling. He never understood why he could never act normal in front of Natsumi. He was the bravest of the five Keronians, and he still wasn't able to act normal in front of a Pekoponian girl. It took quite a long time for Giroro to reach the kitchen where he expected the love of his life to be preparing dinner. She wasn't there. This wasn't like her. Who would prepare dinner? Had she already prepared and eaten dinner?

If that was the case, Giroro figured that the next most likely location would be in her room, listening to that one radio show. That radio show with that guy Saburo who she adored. He couldn't stand the thought of her fantasizing over someone like Saburo. According to Giroro, Saburo was just some regular guy who just so happened to have a popular radio show that was adored by many teen girls. In his own eyes, Giroro saw himself as a fearless soldier. That beat some pop star sensation any day, so why wasn't Natsumi fantasizing over him in just the same manner. Was it because he was a frog? It was obvious to him that relationships like these would be terribly awkward and would not work out, but that didn't stop Giroro. Maybe she just didn't like soldiers, Giroro thought to himself. He pondered this mystery for about a minute before he snapped back to reality and found himself in front of Natsumi's room. He peeked at the slight opening of the door, seeing that the room was dark. Maybe she was sleeping in her bed or in the lab, checking up on that unpredictable Kururu. He found it an invasion of her privacy that he knew almost every possibility of where she could be. He checked the bed, but it was empty and unoccupied. In that case, Giroro figured that she wasstill outside with her friends, maybe with Koyuki. She could also be in the lab, checking up on Kururu. He decided to check the lab first, it was the closest place from here, and Giroro didn't have the energy to search the whole city for Natsumi.

He walked down to Kururu's lab's entrance and found that the walls were bulging a little outward. There was probably an explosion here earlier. All of a sudden, his heart dropped as a great deal of stress filled his mind. He quickly opened the door and went into the lab. The lab was charred thoroughly, burned in very many places, even on the roof. Whatever took place here must've been very dangerous and destructive. This was just like Kururu. He walked around the lab and saw Kururu at his desk chuckling to himself with that deranged laugh of his.

"Giroro, you're back. Ku ku ku, I have a surprise for you, but I've hidden it in this lab. I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised so start searching." Giroro was bored, so he played along with Kururu's little game. He was sure that whatever this 'surprise' was going to be was going to be some twisted joke that only Kururu would find funny. It could also be a new gun, he thought. Kururu was as unpredictable as ever.

His search for the surprise didn't even last five minutes. The 'surprise' was twisted and not even well hidden. It seemed that Kururu didn't even try to hide what lay before Giroro's eyes. What he was looking upon was surprising indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Worst Day Ever**

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? WHY IS NATSUMI UNCONSCIOUS? YOU'D BETTER START EXPLAINING YOURSELF BEFORE I SHOOT YOUR HEAD OFF." Giroro's eyes had developed a bright red tint, one that appeared when he was filled with rage. This had to be the brightest tint of red that he had ever experienced. He took out his gun, restraining himself from pulling the trigger before he gave Kururu a chance to explain himself. If that guy didn't start talking soon, he would pull the trigger with no hesitation. Unaffected by the threat, Kururu began to speak right before Giroro decided to pull the trigger and lowered his arm, but still keeping the gun in his hand.

"Ku ku ku, she was just helping me test out my new invention, don't worry. She's not dead, just unconscious. But now that I've seen your face I guess I'll bring her back now," Kururu said nonchalantly, almost smiling. This was just not a good day for Giroro. First, that long ride through hell with that annoying Keroro had already chipped at his patience and tolerance, which was at an absolute low by the time he saw Natsumi's limp body lying flatly by the rest of the results of Kururu's test. Then, this horrifying discovery kicked him so far over the edge. His rage started to leak out, enveloping Giroro in a terrifying red aura. His rage was so great it was comparable to Tamama's when he was around Lady Mois. Giroro ran so quickly towards Kururu at an alarming speed that Kururu wasn't given time to react to his approach. He grabbed Kururu by the neck, who had his breath knocked out of him, and hauled him over to an isolated room located somewhere in the secret base. He locked the door and roughly threw Kururu on the ground. At this point, Giroro didn't care how hard he hurt somebody. His rage overshadowed his judgment and had taken over. He looked upon Kururu with vengeful eyes. Kururu was panting heavily now, trying to catch his breath. Giroro used this opportunity to speak his mind, which had lots to say to that sick and twisted frog.

"THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE. YOU JUST INJURED THE ONE PERSON I GREATLY CARE ABOUT ON THIS GOD FORSAKEN PLANET AND YOU WILL PAY." He drew his gun faster than the eye could see and held it up against Kururu's yellow head. He remained in this stance for a few seconds before speaking up again. Kururu had said nothing. Giroro swore he could still see a smile in Kururu's face. Did that frog truly have no emotions? He knew Kururu wasn't one to show emotions, but Giroro was sure that Kururu had a limit on how emotionless he could be

"YOU BASTARD. DO YOU HAVE ANY FEELINGS AT ALL? YOU DISGUST ME. NATSUMI IS SEVERELY BURNED AND WORST OF ALL, SHE'S UNCONSCIOUS. SHE COULD'VE DIED. YOU DID NOTHING AT ALL TO HELP HER AND YOU DECIDED TO LEAVE HER THERE UNTIL I RETURNED. WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD DO THAT?" By this time, Giroro was in tears, letting loose the most tears he had ever let out in his life. Across from him, with a gun to his head, Kururu was still silent, but he wasn't brought to tears. This fueled Giroro's anger even more.

"YOU'RE USELESS. YOU DON'T BELONG ON THIS PLATOON IF YOU DON'T EVEN CARE FOR THE WELL BEING OF A FRIEND. YOU'RE WORTHLESS AND I HOPE YOU DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH." Giroro was about to pull the trigger and blast Kururu in the head from point blank range. Before he could, though, something about Kururu had changed. For the first time ever, Kururu looked genuinely afraid. Also, Giroro spied tears spilling from under Kururu's glasses. He wasn't spurting out tears like a fountain. Instead, Giroro saw individual tears fall from Kururu's face. This was clearly not another one of his tricks. He was really crying, not even trying to suppress the tears.

"Did I... Was I t-too harsh on him?" Giroro whispered to himself. He lifted his gun and backed away slowly. Kururu was still hunched over the ground. A small wet spot was near him, lying directly under his face, where his tears had fallen.

"N-no, my actions were j-justified. Just pull the trigger, Giroro," Giroro whispered, even quieter this time, trying to convince himself that he hadn't gone too far with the insults. Willing himself to pull the trigger on his gun, he desperately tried to kill Kururu, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. This was the first time Giroro found himself in a situation like this, but he couldn't kill Kururu. He wondered whether Kururu was feeling remorseful at all. This new situation was bombarding Giroro with new emotions and thoughts. These unfamiliar feelings troubled him, and he didn't know what to do. Kururu was still crying in the same position. The wet spot beneath him was now a small puddle. Giroro was confused.

You had good reasons to make him cry, so why are you feeling hesitant? If anything, you should be bringing him down even more. He really hurt Natsumi. But what if he really was sorry for what he did? Would he try to make up for it? Should I give him another chance? Thoughts like these bounced around Giroro's head. Finally, he decided to spare Kururu's life. He didn't want to kill him. He was a fellow platoon member and he was sure that his tears were honest. Giroro left Kururu, who by now stopped crying and was curled up in a ball on the floor, and exited the room, leaving Kururu alone.

He began to walk back to his tent outside. As he passed the living room, he saw that Keroro and Tamama weren't at the television anymore, so they were probably asleep. He envied the two. He wished he had never found out about the explosion, but at the same time, he was relieved that someone found Natsumi. These were just more conflicting thoughts that hurt his head. He returned to the tent with the stress resting on his shoulders. Miss Furbottom was asleep also, and Giroro set himself down next to her, feeling the soft down of the cat and the heat of her body. It relaxed him for a bit, which gave him the perfect opening to try to fall asleep. Shortly after, he fell asleep next to his cat as he let the troubles of the day drift away with the setting moon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – A Changed Heart**

Giroro woke up to a perfect morning. The sun was shining happily and it was a clear day. He got out of his tent and prepared breakfast for himself. He ate his breakfast, another sweet potato, casually, the sleep numbing his memory of yesterday's happenings.

After he finished his breakfast and made sure everything was in its place, he walked to the front door and walked in the house. He turned to the kitchen and greeted the empty air inside the kitchen. With Natsumi not in the kitchen, a torrent of memories flooded Giroro's brain, ruining his morning. He felt the great deal of bad memories flood his mind and clenched his head in frustration. This trauma he felt was unbearable. No wonder Dororo burst into tears every time Keroro flipped his trauma mode on. Giroro was really experiencing what some of his friends felt regularly, for instance, Tamama's rage yesterday evening and Dororo's constant trauma, just this morning. Realizing each of the unique characteristics of his remaining friends, he tried to find his other two friends' unique set of feelings. Figuring out Keroro and his emotions was just confusing. He displayed his emotions extravagantly, recalling his shower of tears when he was sad and his stupid dances when he was happy. He decided to stop there on the subject of Keroro and moved on to the final member, Kururu. Another switch inside Giroro's mind was switched on, and this particular switch made him wondere if Kururu was alright.

He slapped himself in the face and told himself to get his priorities straight. How could he think of Kururu before Natsumi? Natsumi was the priority. She was unconscious and badly burned. He slapped himself again for not taking her to the hospital so she could get professional help. He had been too caught up in the drama that ensued when he entered the lab.

"Stupid," he muttered to himself.

Giroro came out of his thoughts and found himself standing in the middle of the kitchen where a nonexistent Natsumi was supposed to be, preparing breakfast for Fuyuki and Keroro. He was almost brought to tears again and decided to stop them by doing something productive. Walking to the secret lab where the source of his biggest misery was, he was about to go down the ladder from the room beneath the stairs when two visitors appeared at the front door. Giroro ran to the door and pulled the door open. Koyuki was standing outside with Dororo, which was rare. Dororo didn't really prefer to mingle with the Pekoponians so Giroro was surprised at their presence.

"Oh hey, Giroro! Is Natsumi here? She said we would go to the park today!" Koyuki said with her carefree attitude. Giroro didn't want the others to know of Natsumi's misfortune, especially these two. Natsumi was Koyuki's best friend and Dororo already had enough bad memories. He shuffled his feet and spoke a moment later.

"Umm, she's... she's... sick. With some sickness. A bad sickness, so don't come in, I haven't even seen her. Well, I could hear her coughing and wheezing badly so I'm pretty sure she's ill with some disease. It's not serious though so I can take care of her." Giroro sighed nervously, hoping he hadn't aroused their suspicion. Miraculously, the two bought his story and left, telling Giroro to give Natsumi their best wishes. Giroro agreed and saw them off. He hated lying, especially when it came to the topic of Natsumi, but he felt it was necessary.

Inside, Giroro reflected once again. With so little people in the house, he had more time to think about the things that were happening all around him. It was ironic to him that worse things happened when there were less people around. For the third time that morning, he slapped himself. Why didn't he tell Koyuki and Dororo the truth? He was pretty sure Koyuki would be able to get her to a hospital. It was too late now, so Giroro decided to take the matter in his own hands. He walked again to the ladder and to the door of the secret base. There was a note written by Tamama saying that he and Keroro were at Momoka's house training for another upcoming invasion. Giroro crumpled the letter and threw it on the ground next to the door. He had to get Natsumi to safety. He was sprinting towards the lab now, and he quickly slammed the door open, bracing himself for the view of Natsumi's unconscious body. Again, Natsumi wasn't there. The mess and debris that surrounded her yesterday were gone too. Had Kururu done something to her? He didn't wait to find out and stole a glance to Kururu's desk. He was there, sitting and was in his normal position. He would know what happened to Natsumi. Giroro ran up to Kururu's desk and spun his chair around, making the frog face him. His tears were dried up, but something about Kururu wasn't the same. He looked grayer, but he wasn't depressed. Giroro cut to the chase and went straight to the point.

"Where is N-Natsumi?" Giroro was trying his best not to raise his voice at Kururu. He didn't want him to break out in tears again.

"I brought her to a hospital while you were sleeping. I also cleaned up the mess." Giroro only heard the words 'Natsumi' and 'hospital,' which was enough to bring him to ease. His distraction was caused by the change in the way Kururu's tone sounded. It didn't sound like it belonged to a deranged scientist. He noticed that Kururu didn't laugh with his hand up to his mouth like usual. Giroro hoped for the best that he didn't permanently scar him.

"Umm, thanks Kururu... I owe you one." It wasn't hard for Giroro to keep his voice down. He felt like hugging the frog out of pure happiness and relief. He was ecstatic that Natsumi would be alright. He restrained himself from jumping for joy and hugging Kururu and managed to give his thanks once more. He felt awkward around the frog and his change of behavior. It was unorthodox and the thought of Kururu doing something nice and selfless without order stirred Giroro's image of Kururu. Perhaps Kururu did have a heart after all. Giroro began to walk towards the exit of the lab when Kururu stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry. Giroro, please forgive me. After what happened last night I…" Kururu was interrupted by the raised hand of Giroro. Kururu gasped, praying Giroro wouldn't hit him. He was still slightly afraid of Giroro. Giroro sensed this and lowered his hand to show he wasn't going to harm him.

"Don't worry about the past. What's important is that Natsumi's in the hospital and she's going to be fine. Thanks Kururu, I really owe you so much." Giroro managed to form a small smile, which Kururu saw and blushed slightly. It was known to Giroro that Kururu had a crush on him, but Giroro didn't pay much attention to Kururu until now. This was getting even more awkward for the corporal, and he decided to end the conversation before it got even stranger. Giroro walked away, a bit faster this time, but not fast enough to make it obvious he was trying to get away, and waved back. Kururu blushed again, and waved back slowly.

"Oh wait, Kururu. Which hospital did you take her to?" inquired Giroro. He planned on visiting her today. He would need some gifts, but what did Pekoponians get other Pekoponians when they were sick? He let the question hang for later and instead focused on Kururu's answer. Apparently, Kururu had dropped her off at the nearest hospital which was about five miles south of the Hinata residence.

"Thanks again Kururu," Giroro said thankfully. He hoped Kururu wasn't acting but quickly dismissed the thought. The frog had given him information and taken Natsumi to get some medical care. He shouldn't be thinking like that. He also made a mental note of how many favors he owed Kururu: two.

"Bye, corporal, ku." Hearing that familiar 'ku' from Kururu's laugh brought life back into Giroro's heart. Kururu must've been glad that Giroro wasn't angry like the day before. Giroro was also glad he hadn't traumatized Kururu or else he would've never forgiven himself. Content with how well the morning was going, Giroro left the lab and took one last peek at Kururu, closed the door to the lab, and returned to the Hinata home. Alone, he thought about Kururu's selfless act once again. How did he get her to the hospital? Did he fly her there? Surely he couldn't have formally checked her in, so did he just leave her there in front of the hospital? If he left her in front of the hospital, did they bother to bring her inside? He was pretty sure Pekoponians would never leave a fellow human outside a hospital like that and hoped for the best. Things like these were just a few of the things racing through his mind. He charged his cloaking device and prepared to head out. He would have to hope that Natsumi would like his gift. He made sure his Pekoponian suit was alright, opened the door, and headed out into the hustle and bustle of the market of Tokyo.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Best Gift Ever**

Stuck in the middle of the market area of Tokyo, Giroro was lost with no sense of where he was. He rarely went out to the market and that turned out to be his misfortune. He couldn't fly to where he was going anyways because he needed to pay for his gift and had to walk in his Pekoponian costume, which was itchy and very uncomfortable. He walked around town for a few hours, growing more and more frustrated as noon passed. He sat down on a nearby bench, trying to work in his head the route he had been taken. Hopefully, he knew how to get home. Would he not be able to visit Natsumi today? He hadn't even gotten her a present yet in hope of getting well. He sighed, and stared into the distance, where he spied a shadow move across a distant building. It hopped across the buildings towards Giroro and he braced himself for combat. He had brought his gun by his side, in an inside pocket between his costume suit. As the figure came closer, he reached into his suit, ready for the figure's first move…

But it was only Dororo with his anti-barrier.

"Hey Giroro, why are you out here? Shouldn't you be taking care of Natsumi?" Dororo asked innocently. Giroro questioned whether he should keep going along with the lie that he told Dororo and Koyuki. If he told Dororo he was lying before, he might switch Dororo's trauma switch, and he couldn't afford that. He had dealt with too much drama the previous day and he wanted a break.

"Umm, just getting some medicine, you know. So I can take care of her. 'Cause she's sick." Giroro knew he was a bad liar and chuckled nervously.

"You can give up the act, Giroro. Koyuki and I knew you were lying from the start. Now Koyuki has nothing to do today," Dororo said with a sigh. At least he hadn't gone into trauma mode. That was always a good sign. Giroro's jaw dropped.

"B-but, how did you know?" He asked in almost-disbelief as his jaw dropped to the ground.

"Are you serious, Giroro? First, you're a bad liar and second, I'm a ninja. I thought you of all people would know why. I mean, doesn't anybody know what I'm capable of?" Giroro braced himself for another trauma attack. Dororo didn't break out into tears, however. He must be managing his trauma quite well.

"Fine. I lied to you and Koyuki, but only because I was worried about you guys. I didn't want you to freak out about what happened to her," Giroro said matter-of-factly.

"Sooo... What DID happen to her?" Dororo eyed the red frog.

"Umm… she was hurt during baseball practice and she's at the hospital right now." He had lied again.

"Another lie?" Dororo sighed. Dororo sat down beside Pekoponian Giroro and eyed him curiously. Giroro sighed and decided to tell a partial truth.

"It was just an accident. She was hurt badly, but she's in the hospital now. So I'm going to visit her, but first I need a gift. But I can't get a gift if I'm lost in this market and I don't even know where this hospital is!" It felt good to come clean, even if he didn't reveal the whole truth. Giroro was glad he didn't have to tell Dororo the details and hoped he wouldn't ask for them.

"I'll come with you and help you find a gift. If anybody knows anything about gifts, it's me." Dororo smiled through his mask and the two got up with Dororo leading the way. The pair took a series of left and right turns and somehow ended up in front of a flower shop that sold flowers and balloons. There were many different floral arrangements with many colors including deep shades of dark colors and bright shades of light colors. All the bouquets came with a miniature card to write a note, and the two decided to write a heartfelt letter to Natsumi. They spent thirty minutes picking the perfect bouquet and balloon. Before they left, Giroro remembered just in time that he owed Kururu, and quickly grabbed a handful of some candy from a box. He didn't know if Kururu like sweets, but this would have to suffice in repaying him for telling him which hospital Natsumi was in. He had repaid his one small favor but still had no idea how to pay the other, more significant, favor back. With a bouquet, a card, and a bag of candy for Kururu, they headed towards Natsumi. It turns out that the hospital was straight down the road from the flower shop and saved them travel time.

When they arrived at the hospital, they took out the small card from the bouquet and, using a pen from Giroro's pocket, wrote a note. Giroro signed his name crudely on the card, barely leaving enough space for Dororo, who moped about it for a while. The Keronians discussed their plan of action and set it in motion. Dororo's task was simple enough. Dororo, who was already protected by the anti-barrier, would follow Giroro while Giroro would have to sign in and wait for the approval before being let in to see her.

With a plan in motion, Dororo and Giroro entered the hospital.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Worst Day Ever Part Two**

People stared at the red-faced man who was carrying flowers and a small balloon that had just entered the hospital lobby.

"Crap," Giroro said under his breath. Giroro was certain he made his entrance too dramatic. He had pushed the doors open firmly as they swung around and almost hit a small boy. Oops. Dororo just chuckled at his friend and stayed by Giroro's side. Giroro walked to the receptionist as normally as he could, which only made his movements even more strange and disoriented. The receptionist was staring at this tall red man, who was blushing out of embarrassment, but wasn't able to be seen, due to his natural red complexion.

"I'm here to see umm… Natsumi Hinata?" As soon as he said those words he regretted them. If Kururu brought her to the hospital and left her outside, how would they know her name? Unless Kururu left some sort of way to identify her. He panicked and started sweating. Dororo hadn't seen him sweat yet and Giroro was pretty sure he didn't know the imminent predicament. No sooner than he began worrying, the receptionist, with her eyes still trained on Giroro, said, "Natsumi… Hinata?" That was a relief, Giroro thought. The receptionist scanned a clipboard in her vicinity and studied the list of names. "Very well, come this way and follow this nurse." Giroro lightly nodded and followed the nurse, who had long, dark hair tied up into a classic ponytail. She wore hard-rimmed glasses and had the look of a young woman. She looked like she was just hired by the company, for she was sweating a bit, probably striving for perfection or because there was a tall, imposing, red-faced man following her. It was probably the latter of the two. Whatever the reason was, Giroro and Dororo were lead through the maze of the hospital, past many rooms serving various purposes until they reached a spacey room with a hospital bed. Giroro peered inside while the nurse unlocked the door and allowed them entrance. Natsumi was there, wrapped up like a mummy in white, but at least she was still breathing. Thank God. The nurse left and told Giroro that they had thirty minutes. Thankful, Giroro nodded lightly again in her direction.

After they were certain the nurse was gone, Giroro closed the door and Dororo revealed himself. They gently woke up Natsumi. It took a minute of coaxing to get her to wake up, and when she woke up, she woke up violently. She sat up in her bed and eyed both frogs with a death glare.

"Ugh, I feel horrible. Where am I? It hurts to move." Giroro was nearly sent to tears realizing that Natsumi was alive and strong enough to speak.

"Natsumi, Dororo and I have something to give to you. We hope you like it." They began to place the flowers and balloon on the desk before they were interrupted by Natsumi.

"Get out. You frogs are nothing but trouble! However this happened, I don't remember. But I know that it had something to do with you stupid frogs." Dororo sat silently, tears surfacing from his eyes. Giroro tried his best to defend himself.

"It was Kururu's fault!" He hated playing the blame game, but he wanted to establish that he had no part in Kururu's invention.

"I don't care who did it. All you frogs have brought with you is harm to this city and my family! I'm pretty sure I'll have to stay here for quite a while and while I'm gone, who'll take care of the house. Ever since you guys have arrived, I've tolerated with you and your stupid schemes but this is too far. Why can't you just leave?" This was a real blow to Giroro's heart. Rage built up inside of him, and he wanted to release it at Natsumi, but he would never try anything like that with Natsumi. Did she not remember all the fun and enjoyable times that the platoon and her had experienced together? He pointed this out, wishing for a good outcome.

"I told you already. I. Don't. Care. Just leave before I call security." She said harshly. She lay herself back down and went back to sleep.

"But I l-lov–" Giroro began, but was interrupted by the far superior voice of Natsumi. It was remarkable that Natsumi still had the energy to yell at them; she was always full of energy no matter where she found herself.

"LEAVE!" That was the final say, and Giroro knew that it was useless to argue with her.

Giroro was hoping she was just overreacting, but he knew that they had really gone too far. The frogs had gotten too comfortable with the Hinatas and took their hospitality for granted. Without the Hinatas, the platoon wouldn't have a secret base and no relationships with the humans that lived on this planet. All the friends they'd met during their adventures: Natsumi, Fuyuki, Momoka, Saburo, and Koyuki; these friendships would've never been made without the first act of kindness of the Hinatas. After realizing this, Giroro, who was starting to tear up, dragged Dororo, who was still crying, left the flowers and balloon on the stand near Natsumi, and left the room. They exited without a word and Dororo left shortly after departing the building. The day had turned into evening, and Giroro knew he had to get home soon and wanted to leave before any of the other frogs noticed he had been gone for the whole day.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – For the Better Good**

Giroro walked home, depressed as he was the day before, and walked to his tent once again. This streak of depression was bad for Giroro's health and had been like a replay of yesterday. Miss Furbottom's cuddles weren't even able to cheer up Giroro. He opened up his belt that was strung across his shoulder and stared at the picture of Natsumi. He would never be able to win the heart of Natsumi now. He lifted the picture out of the slot and crumpled it up and threw it carelessly outside. He could care less about her now. She had brutally crushed his love for her.

He left the tent without saying a word to his cat and walked inside the house. When he walked inside, Keroro and Tamama were at the television again, laughing and gorging themselves on fast food from the restaurants from Momoka's house. Maybe spending some time with his comrades would help ease the pain. He sat on the couch beside them and ate some cheese puffs. It took a while to get used to Keroro, but anything he did was better than what happened at the hospital. It turned out that Giroro enjoyed the time he spent bonding with his friends. They watched comedies and ate a large amount of junk food. With his mind cleared a bit and away from the horrible events that happened that afternoon, he decided he would move his tent to Keroro's room to help him get used to being with his friends and asked him if he was okay with it.

"Keroro, can I move in with you in your room?" Giroro hated asking favors from Keroro because there would always be some strings attached.

"Hmm? Sure, okay." A brief pause followed. Did that mean that Keroro wasn't attaching any strings?

"But!" Giroro knew this was coming. He couldn't lie to himself. Keroro hadn't changed at all.

"You better not touch my Gundams, okay? Okay. Enjoy your new home."

"Okay." Giroro had no problem following that condition. He thought those Gundams were stupid. Why build things that had fake, plastic weapons when you could use real weapons instead?

Giroro gathered his tent and walked down to Keroro's room. He also brought Miss Furbottom with him. Keroro better not say anything about him bringing the cat. He walked to Keroro's room with his hands full. He placed his tent down and made three trips to collect all his stuff. With everything in the room, it was time for him to pick a spot. There was a lot of free space in his room, so Giroro had lots of choices. He chose a spot in the corner of the room, away from Keroro. He still wasn't comfortable sleeping near Keroro, and he wanted his own personal space. With new surroundings, Giroro had some trouble falling asleep in Keroro's room, but somehow he managed to let his brain rest. He had been thinking too much today and he desperately needed to escape the day's emotional destruction.

Giroro woke up early the next day. Keroro usually slept in, giving Giroro the perfect opportunity to explore his room and find out more about him. In Keroro's room, with its usual furniture set up except for a new tent located in a corner of the room, Giroro was exploring this new environment. The room was filled with numerous Gundams and other geek culture items. It was so different from the Hinata yard and would take some time to get used to. Now that his tent was set up in Keroro's room, Giroro spent some more time with his platoon leader, who had just woken up and ate a sweet potato that Giroro had cooked. He needed to get his mind off of Natsumi even if it meant putting up with the sergeant's foolishness and immaturity. Keroro, Tamama, and he drew up plans for their next invasion. With help from Giroro, the new plans sounded much more promising, but it had taken lots of threatening and explaining to get Keroro to agree, who usually thought that his ideas were always better. The new plans involved combat, which was rare compared to the plans that the sergeant would usually spit out, and new guns would have to be made, which meant Kururu had his work cut out for him.

Keroro organized a group meeting that would take place in a few hours. Giroro saw this as his chance to give Kururu the candy. He would give him the candy when everybody left. He didn't want anybody to think there was something between them. It was just a gift, so he didn't know why he was acting nervous about the subject. It's not like they were in any sort of relationship. A few hours later, the five platoon members met in their secret base and discussed the plan that they would put to use. With everyone cooperating with each other for once, with the exception of Dororo, who didn't want to have anything to do with a plan that concerned harming the Pekoponians, the four platoon members actually accomplished something, unlike their regular meetings. Kururu, whose attitude change was still not apparent to Tamama or Keroro, began to work on the new inventions that Keroro had wanted him to make for their invasion. The plan was pretty solid and had good organization and coordination. Was it because none of the humans were there to distract them from their goal? With almost no interference from their partners and more realistic strategies, Giroro couldn't help but make a connection. Were the recent events actually in favor of his team? He was left with his unanswered questions as their meeting was dismissed.


	10. Chapter 10

**yay, 10th chapter is up. enjoy. ^_^  
**

**Chapter 10 – Another Invention Plus Some**

Giroro, the last to leave the room, was still finalizing the details of the plans that they had made during that meeting. No humans meant that there would be no distractions, which meant having a better chance at succeeding at the mission. He was just about to leave the room when Kururu called him over to where he was working. Kururu probably needed a guinea pig for a new invention. Giroro considered himself lucky that he was still alive after so many test sessions. He had gotten used to the pain that usually came with the testing, but he was still uncomfortable when he was asked to test anything that he made.

He walked over to Kururu, seeing that he was toying with some sort of gun. It was shaped like a regular pistol. It looked menacing and it was still a prototype. He wondered what the final gun would look like after all the tweaks that would be made. Whatever this soon-to-be weapon was, it looked menacing enough.

"So Giroro, I need you to test this prototype that I made while I was bored. It's supposed t–" Before Kururu could finish, Giroro interrupted him and held out a small bag full of spherical treats.

"Here. It's a bag of candy for you, I hope you like it. It's for… helping me last time."

"Uhh… thanks Giroro. That's nice of you, ku ku." He took the bag with one hand and held up his other hand up to his mouth and chuckled. Before things got awkward, Giroro asked about the new gun.

"So, what is it supposed to do?" Giroro rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Oh yes, ku ku. No matter, I'll let you find out. It'll be much more fun this way. Consider it a gift, ku ku. Don't worry. It's not dangerous." Giroro rubbed his ears too, making sure that he had heard him correctly. Did Kururu just give him a gift?

"Fine. I'll do it. But before I go, you have to promise me that you're telling the truth." Giroro wanted an honest answer from Kururu. He refused to agree with the testing unless he had Kururu's word.

"Okay, I promise it won't do anything bad, now go and test it for me, ku ku." Any remaining skepticism that he had was now gone. This was another first for Kururu. He couldn't recall a time when Kururu had made a promise. He was usually interested in himself, which made him avoid doing favors and making promises to others.

He walked out of the room, leaving Kururu to himself. He was still toying around with some other guns, which were probably the guns that they had planned to use in the invasion. Giroro turned on his anti-barrier and walked outside, looking for his first test subject. He was excited to find out what his new gun would do and looked down the streets for any potential victims. He was extremely eager to find out what this thing could do, but nobody was walking down the street, discouraging Giroro. He felt like he had become Kururu. Did he feel this way every time he invented something? He could hold his curiousity no longer and headed down the street.

After walking a little farther down the street, he found a lone couple walking by. Protected by the anti-barrier, Giroro aimed and fired the gun at the unfortunate couple. What happened next was bizarre. The couple had turned into frogs. They weren't Keronian frogs. Instead, they were Earth's local frogs. They were less cute than Keronians and much smaller. The two frogs hopped around the walkway. Their instincts had kicked in and the two frogs hopped to a nearby pond, where dragonflies and other insects could be found.

If this was some kind of joke, Giroro didn't find it funny. He immediately returned home.

He returned home and made his way to the lab and found Kururu in his usual place. He was sleeping with his head on his desk. He must've been exhausted from making all those things this morning. Giroro decided to wait for him to wake up and sat in a corner. He took out one of his guns and began to clean and polish it to pass the time.

Thirty minutes in, Giroro got bored and put his gun away. He stared at Kururu. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, even if he was hiding behind his glasses.

Another thirty minutes later, Kururu woke up with a groggy look on his face. He looked at Giroro, who had fallen asleep himself. Kururu, feeling a bit mischievous, walked over to the corporal and kicked him.

"Hey you, wake up." Giroro, who was half-asleep, stretched his arms and opened his eyes. He had awoken to the sight of Kururu, who was standing above him.

"Get up. How was the gun? Did you like it? Hope you did, ku ku." Kururu kicked Giroro again, who had tried to get back to sleep.

"Umm, yea. It was nice, thanks for making it," Giroro said. He knew he shouldn't have lied to him and immediately felt guilty.

"It's just my way of saying sorry, ku ku."

"I told you that you shouldn't worry about it anymore. Besides, she crushed me and also made Dororo cry." Giroro said with a returning painful expression on his face. It was the thought that counted.

"Okay, whatever you say," Kururu shrugged and walked back to his desk and began typing on his keyboard.

"Did you like the candy?" Giroro asked tentatively. With no knowledge of what sweets Kururu preferred, Giroro had blindly taken some random candy at the time.

"No, I would've preferred some curry, but whatever, ku ku ku." Kururu hadn't completely changed. That was a relief. He was still pretty blunt when he was asked a question. Giroro sighed, unhappy that he had not gotten the perfect gift for Kururu. He would get it right next time. Sweets were off limits and he would need to remember to get him some curry next time.

Giroro couldn't believe himself. He was making a big deal out of repaying Kururu. He would never do this for anyone, especially for a guy like Kururu, and he began searching for the reason why he had bothered to do anything at all. He didn't have feelings for the frog; he was just a friend that he had to repay. However, something about this situation was different from usual. Giroro never put this much thought into a gift for a friend. If he got a gift for someone like Keroro or Tamama, they either liked his gift or didn't. He would never try to satisfy their desires. Why wasn't this the case for Kururu?

"Giroro. Are you okay? You were staring at the wall. That's not like you at all. You're not one to be caught daydreaming, ku ku." Kururu was either completely oblivious, or he was just playing dumb.

"Nothing, I'm fine. I gotta go. I just remembered I left something at the park while I was out," Giroro replied. He got up and exited the lab. He wasn't feeling comfortable with Kururu so close to him and returned to his tent in Keroro's room.

"Giroro, you should help me with my Gundams. Tamama left earlier, and now I'm all alone," Keroro said. Coming back to his room had been a mistake. He still wouldn't be able to think with Keroro around. He left the room again and headed towards the yard to go back to the place where his tent used to be. He remembered why he had chosen this spot. It was away from Keroro so he could have peace and quiet. Recently though, he felt the need to be surrounded by his friends. The world had been cruel to him, and he needed comfort from people that would be able to put his mind at ease. He made another trip to Keroro's room and they made some Gundams together, which served as a perfect bonding opportunity. Unfortunately, there was little bonding and much disagreement, but it showed that some things never change.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone, here's the newest chapter (7/5). Honestly, this was the hardest chapter so far for me to write; I've never been in a hospital. My family and I never get sick or have any major injuries. I haven't even broken a bone or sprained an ankle in my life.  
**

**I'm just happy that I'm lucky enough not to be prone to serious injuries. If anybody could tell me any inaccuracies with the hospital scene, please feel free to do so. ^_^  
**

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Mother Knows Best**

Earlier that morning, Aki Hinata had been busy with work one day when an unexpected call had arrived. She picked up the phone on her work desk, which was a cluttered mess, and held it to her ear. Aki was surprised to find herself talking to a hospital employee, who informed her that Natsumi Hinata had been found outside the hospital and she was recovering.

She left work early that day. Her sudden leave jeopardized the upcoming manga, which was scheduled to be released in a few days, but her work had no priority over her children. She quickly sped down winding roads until she found herself at the hospital where Natsumi was being cared for. She parked her motorcycle and quickly ran into the hospital, flustered and uncoordinated.

The receptionist, the same receptionist that attended to Giroro the day before, was working at her desk, taking calls and handling visitors. Aki quickly placed herself in line and waited for her turn.

"Hello ma'am, are you seeing anybody today?" the receptionist asked. She looked bored with her job and her sentences came out monotonously.

"Yes. I'm here to see Natsumi. Natsumi Hinata."

At the mentioning of the name, the receptionist eyed Aki with a studying glance. This woman wasn't red-faced like the previous visitor. Satisfied, she called over a nurse and relayed the information.

"Okay, just follow this nurse. She will bring you to Miss Hinata."

"Okay, thank you." Aki stepped towards the nurse. This nurse was also the same nurse that had brought Giroro to Natsumi, and she was worried that this woman would be as awkward as the red-faced visitor. The nurse swiftly turned around, whipping her hair behind her back, and brought Aki to Natsumi's room.

Compared to yesterday, Natsumi's condition had improved at a much quicker rate than expected. She was a fighter and would recover in half the time expected. At Natsumi's room, the nurse nodded quickly in her direction and Aki smiled back to thank her.

"You have thirty minutes, Mrs. Hinata."

The nurse then left and began to tend to her other duties.

Natsumi's mom walked over to the hospital bed, where Natsumi was sleeping peacefully. She gently rocked her daughter awake, and the girl's eyes immediately lit up. Natsumi was able to move slightly, but she could make no sudden movements, or else she would feel an immense pain. Natsumi slowly rose up out of the bed and hugged her mom.

"Mama, I'm so glad to see you! How did you know I was here?"

"The hospital called and said you were in a serious condition."

"Well, I'm just glad that you've come. Did you leave early from work? I hope I didn't trouble you." Natsumi hugged her mom even tighter and her tears of happiness began to fall from her eyes.

"Now that I'm here, do you want to tell me what happened? You look like you're in pain, bandaged up like that."

"These are just some minor burns and they'll go away eventually. The doctors said I would be able to go back in about a week. And also, it was the frogs. They did this to me."

"You mean Keroro and his friends? Are you sure?"

Natsumi was angry and clenched her fists tightly. It was a bad move, and her hands began writhing in pain. She painfully set her hands on her lap and continued.

"Yes, I'm sure. Actually, it was mostly Kururu's fault. Giroro, Tamama, and that stupid frog were out on a mission. I was checking up on him to make sure he wasn't getting himself into trouble. When I got there, there was this huge cannon and when he fired it, he destroyed half of the lab. I was on the unlucky half, so I got bruised and burned. Those stupid frogs are always up to no good."

"Honey, maybe it was an accident. I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you. I think you were just caught in the crossfire." Her mom could never imagine those frogs having any intention of harming anybody. They might've been invaders, but the time they had spent on Earth had softened them and allowed them to build peaceful relationships with their partners.

"Well, whatever it was. I don't want them in the house anymore. Please say that you'll make them leave," Natsumi pleaded. She clasped her hands together and then quickly released them from the pain that had set in when they made contact with each other.

"We can't just kick them out, Natsumi. They've become part of our family, and you know that they care about us as much as we care about them." Aki placed a hand on one of Natsumi's shoulders, trying to comfort her. "Every single one of them cares about you. Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, Dororo, even Kururu."

Natsumi looked up at her mom with a skeptical look.

"Kururu may be menacing and frightening under normal conditions. But when the situation calls for it, I'm sure that he will make the right decisions. Just think about it for a while, honey. Since we're family, we look out for each other. I'm sure you'll make the right decision."

Natsumi's confused face disappeared and she promised that she would think it over. It was an accident, after all. Even if Kururu did have a stone heart, Natsumi found it hard to believe he would deliberately try to harm her.

"Anyways, let's spend the rest of the time with each other, okay?" Aki said as she took out a deck of cards and mother and daughter enjoyed each other's company for the remainder of the time.

Mother and daughter talked with each other. Natsumi found it relaxing to be with someone that she could trust wholeheartedly. Since she was only allowed thirty minutes before she would have to leave, they made the most of their time. They told jokes, played card games, and did other activites that eased Natsumi. Aside from the hospital surroundings and the fact that she was bandaged up, it felt like it had been a normal day.

Before Aki was about to leave, she reminded Natsumi to think about what she would do. Natsumi promised her mother and as she left, Natsumi rested her head on the pillow of the hospital bed and fell asleep, happy that she was visited by her mom that day.

In the following days, Natsumi found it hard to forgive Kururu for what he had done to her. Her mom's words were stuck in her head. She wanted to forgive Kururu; he was family, after all. She was torn between these two decisions. The two thoughts battled each other, trying to gain dominance over the other, and Natsumi kept changing her mind about her final decision. Frustrated, she closed her eyes, unable to make a decision.

As she fell asleep, she entered her dreams. This was the one place where everyone was accounted for and they had gathered together for a celebration. In her dream, there was no particular holiday to be celebrated. Everybody had just come to have fun and socialize with each other. There was tons of laughter and mirth filled the air. It was impossible to feel gloomy inside her fantasy; even Dororo was having a good time at her dream gathering. The guests included the whole Keroro platoon and their partners, Lavie and her brother, even the Garuru platoon was there. There were too many people here that Natsumi had lost count.

These people were her family and together, they were pretty happy with each other. Even though they might've disagreed in the past, it still brought their friendships closer together. Maybe this incident was one of those disagreements that brought people closer together. It boggled Natsumi, but she was sure that she was right. She let herself get lost in her dream state and was woken up by a nurse, who was there to administer a regular checkup.

As she rose from her bed to prepare herself for examination, she and smiled. She finally found a reason to forgive Kururu, which gave her even more energy to recover even faster.

She also made a mental note to apologize to Giroro and Dororo. They had come to see her and wish her good luck on recovering, and she had kicked them out immediately. She glanced to the small table in her room, where the flowers and card were still laid out.

Natsumi sat up with renewed energy, much to the nurse's horror. She immediately rushed to Natsumi and told her to sit down. She didn't want Natsumi to force herself and ignored Natsumi's objections. Natsumi, disgruntled, lay back down in her bed and went through the usual process of her checkup. The nurse recorded countless characteristics about her body, including body temperature, blood pressure, and much more. As time passed on and more and more examinations had been administered, Natsumi sat up.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," she quickly said before the nurse could object. She sighed and continued with the check up.

It had seemed like an eternity had passed while she was being checked up. Natsumi was about to fall asleep when the nurse said that she was finished and that she was recovering exceptionally well. Natsumi was instructed to go to sleep and give her body a rest. That wouldn't be a problem. She was already lying down with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. The sooner she recovered the sooner she could apologize for her behavior.

She had more pleasant dreams about her family that night and those dreams acted as a catalyst that would speed up Natsumi's recovery.

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**Anyways, this was a filler chapter since I was having a bit of writer's block for Giroro and the platoon's POV. We'll get back to them in the next chapter. ^_^**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, sorry guys for not uploading as planned. It's just that I've been procrastinating on my summer school (lol) and I had to catch up. I've also been busy with piano and other stuff like that. ^_^  
**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, they're so cute together. ^  
**

**Concrit is always accepted. :O  
**

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**Chapter 12 – Giroro's First**

It had been five days since the Natsumi incident. Giroro was coping well with the loss and had _almost_ completely forgotten about her. He spent much more time with his friends than in the past, and it kept his mind busy. He had also taken up some new hobbies and would build a Gundam every once in a while to keep his mind off of Natsumi. These activities acted as a kind of therapy to keep Giroro's mind occupied and away from the past.

There super invasion plan would take place next week after the remaining preparations were made. Kururu still had lots of things to make and it was obvious that this was going to be their biggest and best mission ever. Giroro began spending more and more time with the yellow frog. It was usually to test more inventions of his, some of them for the invasion and some of them just for the amusement of Kururu. Recently, Kururu had called him over much more than usual, and Giroro knew something was up.

Giroro was in Keroro's room, polishing his guns again; it never got old. As he was polishing and Keroro was building a new Gundam, Kururu came out and called Giroro over, saying he needed his help again with the testing. Giroro agreed and placed his gun down. He felt no need to bring it with him because he had gotten used to being with Kururu after the past few days. He nodded his head in Kururu's direction and walked to the lab. Kururu broke the silence with an odd request.

"Giroro, I just need to tell you something. You should get me some more of those candies. Remember? The ones you gave to me last week, ku ku."

"But I thought you didn't like those! I saw some really hot curry at the market yesterday when I was walking with Keroro and Tamama to buy some star fruit, and I thought that that would make a better gift." Giroro said. He had been saving up for the super spicy curry for a while now, and finding out that Kururu wanted more of those candies upset him slightly.

"So nice of you. Get me both, ku ku ku." Giroro had it coming. Now Kururu expected him to get both gifts just to please him. Kururu was still a pain, even if he had toned his craziness down a bit. How much extra would that be? It would take even longer to save up for both. Aki didn't pay him an allowance and he had gotten his money usually the paychecks that Keron would send to them, but it was a miracle if they even got their payment. With so many failed plans, a huge debt had been growing and eating out of their wages. He would have to ask Keroro to lend him some money, and he knew there would be lots of complications before he even got the money.

"Bu–"

"Come on. Do it for me, ku ku."

"Fine," Giroro said drooping his head. He didn't know why he was tolerating Kururu this way, but something in his head told him it was because of his new attitude. Giroro liked Kururu this way. He wasn't as crazy as before, but he wasn't boring and always added a sense of thrill to Giroro's life. Now, Kururu rarely made things that were extremely dangerous. Instead, he made practical jokes with his inventions. He had changed from a mad scientist bent on destruction into a mischievous prankster.

Giroro returned to Keroro's room, where Keroro and Angol Mois, who had returned from her vacation, were busy chatting, and bluntly asked for some money.

"Hmm, how much do you need?" Keroro asked.

"2,000 yen." Giroro said quickly. He needed to get this over with so he could get the things he needed for Kururu.

"Sure. Here you go, but remember I charge interest." Keroro said with a smug grin on his face. He walked over to a shelf in the corner of his room and took a 2 thousand yen bills out of a piggy bank.

"No way I'm paying interest." Giroro snatched the bill out of Keroro's hand and ran towards the door. He was almost out of the room when Angol Mois stood in his way.

"Nobody steals from Uncle and gets away with it!" She had her Lucifer Sphere out and was ready to pummel Giroro for his crime. "Armageddon! 1 ten-trillionth!"

"No! Please don't! I'm sorry!" Giroro ran straight back to Keroro and went on his knees. "I was just kidding, I'll pay. I'll pay!"

"It's okay, I was kidding too. Anything for the corporal. You don't have to pay me back." Keroro, along with Mois, laughed at Giroro's misfortune and sat down building a new Gundam.

"You could say, a harmless joke?" Mois said as she put on her biggest smile.

Giroro left the room and headed out. He turned his anti-barrier on and flew on his small hovercraft to the shop that he had seen earlier. Hopefully they still had the special curry. Nobody was there to attend to the stall which presented the perfect chance to grab some of the curry. Giroro took a bowlful of curry and left some of his money on a desk inside the shop. He needed to get the bag of candy before the curry went cold. He quickly retreated to his hovercraft and flew in the direction of the flower shop that Dororo had shown him.

When he arrived at the flower shop, he quickly ran in and grabbed two handfuls of candy and stuffed them in a bag. He threw the money at the clerk, who almost had a heart attack after seeing coins and bills attack him. The poor clerk would probably have nightmares after seeing an invisible presence fling money in his direction. Giroro left the shop as swiftly as he had entered.

He flew back to the house and quickly ran to the lab. It was sunset and the sky had turned red. He brushed his hand over the sealed bowl of curry. It wasn't as hot as it was when he first got it, but at least it wasn't cold. He reached the lab and slammed the door open. Panting, Giroro took out the bowl of curry and the bag of candy and set them on the desk of a sleeping Kururu.

"Hey. Wake up! I got you your stupid candy and curry." He shook Kururu. Kururu refused to wake up and he shook him even harder.

Kururu woke up and stretched his arms. He saw the bowl of curry and the bag of candy and quickly waved Giroro to go away.

"Ku ku ku, thanks. I'll eat it later. Now let me sleep." Leave it up to Kururu to find a way to frustrate Giroro even more.

"No. You're going to eat that curry right now. Do you know what I had to go through to get that for you?" Giroro asked while gritting his teeth. Kururu knew how to drive him over the edge.

"I imagine it must've been a pain, ku ku. And thanks for the candy too. You know, I just wanted to see you get that stuff for me. I'm not even hungry. You're so funny when you do what I ask, ku ku ku." Kururu blushed a bit, revealing a slight shade of pink mixed in with his yellow skin.

"You bastard. I was almost smashed by Mois trying to get some money from Keroro."

"Were you? You never fail to entertain me, Giroro. I wish I was there to see." Kururu found joy in messing around with Giroro. Giroro sighed deeply, trying his best to keep his cool. He found it easier to tolerate the new Kururu and had gotten used to his new behavior.

Kururu was still blushing. Giroro awkwardly smiled back. He wasn't used to smiling, and he had definitely never smiled at Kururu before. It was a new experience that warmed his heart. He quickly left the lab after they exchanged a few more words.

It was a terribly awkward moment, but it didn't matter. Anyways, it was a first for Giroro.


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, I know I'm late again, so I might as well put this out.  
**

**When I post new chapters it'll probably be at least a 2 day wait but never more than 5.  
**

**I've just been getting ahead on my studies, so I don't really have much time. :/ Oh well.  
**

**Sort of enjoyed this chapter, but I prefer Chapter 12. ^_^  
**

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**Chapter 13 – Kururu Versus Tororo**

The next day, Giroro was in his tent, polishing his weapons once again. He kept his weapons as clean and pleasing to the eye as he could; he took great pride in his guns, just like Keroro took pride in his overflowing collection of Gundam models. Giroro had a small collection of Gundams himself that he had made when he was bored, but his five models were nothing compared to Keroro's constantly growing collection.

Keroro walked into the tent, much to Giroro's annoyance.

"Hey, do you know where Natsumi is? She's been gone for almost a week without coming home. Tamama and I are beginning to worry." Giroro had forgotten that he hadn't told the bad news to those two. He immediately came clean, seeing no harm in telling them the truth. It had taken some explaining, but the memory was still clearly etched in his mind despite not thinking about it for a while.

Keroro sat and listened. It troubled Keroro that Giroro hadn't told him sooner, and he scolded the corporal for not doing so.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I hope Natsumi is okay. It's weird, you know, this time, I had nothing to do with it," Keroro joked, chuckling nervously. His attempt at cracking a joke to lighten the mood had no effect on the atmosphere around them. Recounting the story had turned on Giroro's own switch, but it wasn't as severe as Dororo's had been.

"Well, she's in the hospital now, and she wants us gone. But we can't leave until we successfully invade Pekopon. So until then, we should give our best efforts in trying to enslave this planet and all the Pekoponians that live here." Giroro was more determined this time. There were no more restraints holding him back now. Natsumi was the only reason he would hesitate destroying the planet, and with her gone now, he had no more excuses to not carry out their mission.

"We should be focusing and getting ready for a full scale invasion," Giroro said as he gritted his teeth.

"Hey, okay, but not right now. I need to finish this Gund–"

"We should've conquered this planet more than a year ago! We need to take action; we've postponed our invasion for too long and I think that we should start it right now!"

"But what about all the nice people you've met? What about–"

"Natsumi? I told you already. She doesn't want us here anymore. I bet that she'll try her best to make us leave Pekopon when she gets better, so we'd better use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack!" Giroro was fuming, and the fact that Keroro kept insisting made him even angrier. He slugged Keroro in the face and sent him flying out of the tent. Giroro zipped up the tent and angrily sat back down and tried to calm himself by polishing.

He could hear Keroro walk back cautiously.

"Giroro, I'm pretty sure that she was just overreacting. Besides, it was the sergeant major's fault, so she had no reason to be mad at you. She'll realize that and I'm pretty sure that when she comes back, she'll have calmed down."

With those final words, Giroro could hear him walk out of his room.

"I'll be at Tamama's. I'm going to ask him to make a card with me for her. Just thought I'd let you know, if you ever need me. Do you want to go with me?" Keroro asked. Even if he was annoying, Keroro cared when he needed to.

"Whatever, I won't be looking for you anytime soon. And also, why would I want to go with you?" Giroro said, trying to act tough again. Inside, however, he was in turmoil. He wanted to believe Keroro and wait for Natsumi to come back, but the way Natsumi had verbally abused Dororo and him made him hesitant to wait.

The door shut and Giroro unzipped his own tent door and walked out. He needed some fresh air. The air inside his tent had been full of sadness and despair.

As he realized he was alone once again, he craved company, so he went to the only place that could give him just that: Kururu's lab.

Giroro took his time getting to the lab. He rarely went to the lab on his own accord and was nervous of what to expect. What would he do once he was in the lab? Giroro considered various things to talk about with Kururu, but then again, Kururu wasn't one to have a casual conversation. He searched for an excuse to go to Kururu, but his search was in vain. He considered turning back and finding Dororo, but that would take too much time.

He desperately wanted company at that moment and was too impatient to go outside and look for him.

Realizing his only option was to somehow start socializing with Kururu, he kept trying to think of excuses for his arrival to his lab. With no results, Giroro hoped that the new Kururu wouldn't put him down for coming for no reason at all.

He was at the lab now and was totally unprepared for what might happen. He went inside and saw Kururu at his computer. He was typing furiously on his keyboard and was mumbling something softly to himself. Everything was the same, except for beads of sweat on Kururu's head. Kururu never sweated, unless he was being strained to do something. Giroro walked over to the desk, trying not to surprise or break his focus.

He decided to try to find out what was going on and spoke over the clacking sounds of the keyboard.

"Kururu, what's wrong? Why are you sweating?"

"Giroro, so nice of you to drop by. Don't mind me, I'm just trying to beat Tororo again. That foolish tadpole challenged me and is trying to hack into our network. I hate to admit it, I really do, but he's getting better and better at this, ku ku ku," Kururu explained between breaths. He was really stressing out and it seemed that Tororo was almost an equal to Kururu.

"Oh. I'll leave you two alone to your business then," Giroro said, disappointed. He turned around and began to drag his feet out of the lab.

"No, stay. It's fine. It'll be over soon, ku ku." Kururu said quickly. His voice was still strained by the pressure of their fierce competition.

"Okay," Giroro said plainly. He didn't know what else to say; he didn't want to interrupt them.

He sat down in the same corner he had been in while he waited for Kururu to wake up the day before. He should've brought his gun so he could polish it to burn some time as he waited for Kururu to beat the tadpole already. According to Kururu, he had never lost to him before, so he was pretty confident although pressured. With nothing to do, Giroro's eyes wandered around the lab, noticing things he hadn't noticed before.

He noticed the large amount of wires that had been placed all over the floor and wondered why he had never tripped on one of them before. He noticed there were even more wires lining the walls. It must've taken a whole lot of energy to keep Kururu's place going and wondered where he got it all. Bored with the multitudes of wires, Giroro's eyes moved over to Kururu, who was focusing all his attention to his numerous computer screens, wildly smashing at his keyboard. His fingers flew around the keyboard and Giroro was amazed at how fast he could type. Kururu's focused face also intrigued Giroro and showed so much more than the sergeant major would typically show to others.

An hour had passed before any damage had been done to the lab. Giroro would've probably been better off looking for Dororo, but what was done was done. He had decided to stay with Kururu for an hour and was bored to death as he kept watching Kururu. He hoped that he didn't notice him staring for all that time. As the hour went by, the screens in the room turned dark. Completely oblivious to its meaning, Giroro spoke up.

"What happened, Kururu?"

Silence filled the room.

"I… lost." Kururu let his head fall to the keyboard. Kururu had never lost before, and since he was unfamiliar with the feeling, he let the grief of losing control his body.

"What?" Giroro got up and ran towards the desk, where Kururu's head was set. "How?" Giroro asked in disbelief.

"That kid, Tororo. He's improving a lot. I'm supposed to be the winner, and now that I've lost, all of our plans must be postponed until I can get it running again."

"Come on. Don't give up that easily! You're a soldier and our sergeant major. Don't accept defeat that easily! There has to be something you can do to get it running immediately again."

"Nope, ku ku. Nothing. I'm going to have to fix it myself, which will take maybe a few days. Maybe weeks. I don't know, this hasn't happened before."

Giroro thought he understood how he felt. He felt the same way when they visited Natsumi.

"You should move to Keroro's room with him and me. Maybe it'll make you feel better." Giroro was trying to comfort him, trying to get him to lift his head up off of the desk.

"Okay, I don't even care anymore. I still lost." Giroro held Kururu up, who looked like he would fall if he didn't have something to lean on.

Together they trudged along the path to Keroro's room. Kururu had fallen asleep while being carried by Giroro and was snoring. When they made it back to Keroro's room, Giroro opened up his tent and placed Kururu in a sleeping bag that he brought out. He took an extra sleeping bag for himself and place it outside the tent. He put himself in and decided to take a nap while he waited for Kururu's mood to get better.

Things weren't turning out in the platoon's favor.


	14. Chapter 14

**Wow, I haven't updated in 5 days. ._. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Things are really getting hectic around me. ^  
**

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**Chapter 14 – Movie Night **

Giroro woke up to the sound of an angry Keroro. He reluctantly lifted his eyes open and saw that the frog was towering over him, shouting at him from close up.

"What's your problem, Keroro? Why did you wake me up?" Giroro asked as he rubbed his eyes open.

"I think I should be asking you the same thing. Who said you could bring Kururu into my room?" Keroro pointed towards another corner of the room where Kururu was sitting with his laptop.

"So what? It's not like he's sleeping in your bed. There's nothing in that corner anyways, jeez," Giroro said as he crossed his arms in disapproval. "Besides, he has to stay here now. His lab is pitch black and everything is off until he can get it running again. Think about other people for once, Keroro."

"I see that you forgot that I saved you from getting smashed by Mois yesterday. Thanks for remembering," Keroro said sarcastically.

"That didn't count! You guys tricked me and really scared me. If anything, you owe me for making me go through that. I thought I was going to die!" Giroro responded. Giroro didn't really feel that way about their joke the day before. He just wanted something to throw back at Keroro. "Anyways, now that all of us are closer together, we'll be around each other more often and _hopefully_ learn to cooperate better."

"No! If Kururu stays here, then sooner or later Tamama's gonna want to stay in my room. It's going to be so crowded in here with the four of us in here." Giroro peered around the room. There was enough space to fit the four of them in the room and still have extra.

"You're kidding, right? There's tons of room for all of us!" Giroro rolled his eyes and gestured towards the openness of the room.

"Whatever you say, corporal. But if this keeps up, then maybe I'll start charging you guys to live in my room, kero kero!" Giroro punched Keroro across the room before he finished his sentence. Keroro was always blinded by profit even if it meant exploiting his friends.

"No way. No thanks. That's just stupid, Keroro. If you say that again, I'll punch you again," he said as he raised his fist to make his point clear.

Keroro paused for a moment.

"Fine," he said, walking to the other side of the room. He walked away to his bed, whispering things under his breath, but Giroro didn't care.

With that settled, he walked over to where Kururu was. He was still on his laptop with his back against the wall. It seemed like Kururu had made that corner into his temporary base of operations. Giroro also spied the sleeping bag that he had placed him in.

"Kururu, are you okay? You seemed pretty beat up earlier," Giroro asked as he stood before him. Kururu looked up and adjusted his glasses.

"Of course. It's nothing major, really. I guess I was just in shock of losing, ku ku." Giroro tried to see if he was hiding his feelings, but he was never good at observing the way people acted. He took his word for it and nodded back. "But some curry and candy would help brighten up my day."

"No way. I am not going through all that trouble again!" Giroro burst out.

"I was only teasing, ku ku. You're really funny when you explode like that."

"Whatever."

A brief pause lingered in the air.

"What time is it? How long were we asleep?" Giroro asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"It's two in the morning. I woke up at one and got my things that I needed from the lab, including my laptop. Keroro came at one-thirty from Tamama's. He said that they made a card for Natsumi and would give it to her when she came back, which really defeats the purpose for a get well card, but I don't really care what they're up too. Then he started asking me why I was here and not in my lab. It got annoying, so I told him that you brought me here, and then he went over and woke you up, ku ku."

"What? So you're the reason he woke me up? I was sleeping peacefully for once. That was the first time this week."

"Oops." Kururu said nonchalantly.

Giroro sighed. "I'm going back to sleep." He turned around and slowly walked back to his sleeping bag. With Kururu in his corner, he picked up his sleeping bag and went inside his tent. He tried his best to fall asleep, but he found it impossible to get some rest. He shuffled around in his sleeping bag for about five minutes before giving up. He got up and out of the tent and walked over to Kururu, who was still awake.

"Can't sleep?" Kururu asked.

"Yeah," Giroro responded as he walked over to Kururu's side and sat himself next to him. Now that he had a view of Kururu's computer screen, he found out that he had not been working on fixing their problem with their base's system; he was looking at videos on the Internet.

"Shouldn't you be working on fixing up the computers. We still have an invasion to carry out, you know. We can't forget the whole reason why we came to this planet in the first place," Giroro said seriously.

"You should relax a little, ku ku. Sometimes I think you take this whole invasion thing too seriously. Learn to have some fun once in a while."

"I think invading Pekopon is fun," he countered.

"Ku ku, do you actually think we'll get anywhere closer to invading Pekopon? Think about it. We've been here for a couple of years and we still haven't made any progress in our invasion. We still haven't even conquered this house yet, ku ku ku," Kururu said as he loaded up another video. He was listening through his headphones and began to chuckle. Giroro shifted his gaze from Kururu to the screen. Kururu was watching a comedy by the looks of it, and Giroro wanted to hear what was going on.

Kururu must've read his mind because he unplugged the wire for his headphones and the sound came out directly from the speakers on his laptop.

It took a while for Giroro to get used to laughing in front of Kururu. He didn't like to laugh; it wasn't expected of someone like him. However, Pekoponian comedies were too funny to ignore, and soon he found himself laughing alongside Kururu.

The pair watched another comedy that night and laughed together. They made sure to keep the volume of both the movie and their chuckles low to keep Keroro from waking up. They were sure that if he found out they were watching a comedy without him, he would whine until they let him join. It would be annoying trying to watch a movie with Keroro, who would probably talk through the whole thing, so they kept their voices down.

It was almost four in the morning before they decided to get some sleep.

"That was fun, ku ku." Kururu said to Giroro.

"Yeah, let's do that again. Where did you find those movies?"

"On the Internet. They're pirated, just to let you know. I'd rather just watch it for free than pay to get it." Kururu showed no shame towards claiming he had been watching pirated movies.

"Of course you did," Giroro murmured. It was just like Kururu to exploit the Internet. Giroro got up and stretched; he was sore from sitting down for more than two hours. After stretching, he got up and walked to his tent in the other corner of the room. As he was about to go into his tent to sleep, Kururu called out to him.

"Good night, Giroro, ku ku." Something about Kururu's tone of voice was unsettling for Giroro and it made him nervous. It wasn't the usual tone he would use when addressing others. In fact, he noticed he sounded much friendlier when Kururu was talking to him. Something about it made him smile back towards him, much less awkward than the last, and respond in a sincere and equally friendly voice.

"Good night."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys, new chapter. So anyways, I do realize that it starts to get a bit ooc at the end, but they're just too cute together that I couldn't resist. ^_^ anyways enjoy, like always.  
**

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**Chapter 15 – Natsumi's Return  
**

"Hey, wake up! Wake up!"

Giroro opened his eyes and saw Keroro in his face once again. He felt like bashing his face against the wall every time Keroro would wake him up.

"What the hell! Stop waking me up like that! I'm losing sleep because of you!" Giroro screamed.

"Fine. I won't tell you the good news if you keep acting like that." Keroro smirked and turned his back to the corporal.

"Huh? What good news? Tell me, Keroro." Giroro stretched and crawled out of his tent. Kururu was still asleep in the sleeping bag that he had taken from him.

"Tell me that you're sorry," Keroro demanded with his back still facing Giroro.

"Sorry. You happy now?" Giroro asked, irritated by Keroro's annoying behavior. He obviously didn't mean it, but he wanted to know the good news. It had been a while since anything positive had turned up in their lives.

"Kero kero, ok then. Natsumi's coming home! She left a message on the phone this morning and said that she was healthy enough to come home. And you know what else?"

"What?" Giroro asked.

"She said she's sorry for shouting at you and Dororo."

"She said that?" Giroro asked with skepticism in his voice.

"Of course she did. She'd be a fool not to apologize to us. She knows that we can take over Pekopon if we really wanted to." Keroro said victoriously.

Giroro doubted Keroro. Was this some bad joke that he tried to pull off? If it was, it wasn't working. Natsumi was badly bruised and burned, if he remembered correctly, and he was pretty sure it would take more than a week to recover. He eyed Keroro with suspicion.

"You're not making this up?" he asked.

"Nope, why would I?"

"I don't know. I just don't know if I should believe you or not."

"Well, you should. Natsumi said she was coming home at noon."

Giroro looked up at the clock in Keroro's room. It was already ten in the morning. He had been oversleeping for the past few days; he usually woke up much earlier, like at six or seven.

"I won't believe you until I see her with my own eyes."

"Suit yourself, but I'll be there to rub it in your face when she does show up. And then you're gonna have to tell me that you're sorry for doubting me in the first place."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. Like I'd say sorry to you for something like that." Giroro sat down in front of his tent as Keroro moved on to Kururu's corner to tell him the good news. Giroro was curious to how he would react and turned his head slightly to keep Kururu and Keroro in his peripheral vision. He picked up one of his guns and began to polish it, trying to hide the fact that he was staring at them through the edges of his eyes.

He heard Keroro roar at the sergeant major as he tried to get him to wake up.

"Hey, Kururu. Kururu! Get up! I have something to tell you!"

"Go away."

"I'm going to have to shake you if you don't wake up." Keroro laughed menacingly as he tried to intimidate him to wake up.

"I don't care."

"Come on! Please get up! I have some good news!" Keroro pleaded.

After a while, Kururu sat up on his sleeping bag and turned towards Keroro.

"What is it? Make it quick, I want to go back to sleep, ku ku." Kururu yawned and wiped his glasses.

"Okay, okay. So, Natsumi is coming back today at noon," Keroro said in a cheery voice.

What happened next took Giroro by surprise.

Kururu froze. His mouth slowly twisted itself into a shape that showed fear and guilt. His head immediately dropped and his body tensed up. By now, Giroro had dropped the gun he had been polishing and fully turned himself to face Kururu. He was staring at him directly from the other side of the room. Kururu must've still felt guilty about what happened that day in his lab. Giroro recognized that unfamiliar face. Kururu had worn the same face during the time that Giroro had shouted those hurtful words at him. He still remembered how he looked at that moment, and that same face was there once again.

"I can see that you're so overjoyed, you don't know what to say, am I right?" Keroro said with a smug grin on his face. "Well, now all I gotta do is tell Private Tamama the good news. I bet he'll be happy to hear it. He placed his hands on his hips and walked away.

_How ignorant,_ Giroro thought. As soon as Keroro left the room, Giroro stood up and walked over to the sergeant major. He placed a comforting hand on the frog's shoulder; he didn't know what else to do.

"Kururu, you don't need to feel guilty anymore," he said with the most comforting tone that he could manage.

There was no reply from him.

"Kururu? Just forget about it. What happened can't be changed and I think she'll understand that it was an accident." Giroro wasn't good with counseling others but he was trying his best to put Kururu to ease.

There was still no reply from him. He stood as still as a statue and was as a stiff as a wooden plank.

"Kururu. Snap out of it. Kururu?" Giroro wasn't sure if he fell asleep or not. Giroro looked at his face, looking for any sign of drowsiness, but saw nothing. He considered taking off his glasses to see if his eyes were closed or not. He also wondered what Kururu's eyes looked like without them. He slowly inched his hand closer to them and could almost feel the lenses touch his fingers. They were just about to make contact when Kururu spoke up. Giroro snapped his hand back and flinched.

"I know. It's just that this is the first time I've actually felt sorry for something I've done and I don't really know what to do." Kururu sighed. His voice had deepened and had dropped in volume. Giroro was startled by this change and barely understood his sentence.

"I'm glad you're sorry, but you've got to move on." Giroro said. Kururu looked up in confusion.

_Damn, why'd I say that? _His inexperience with saying the right words was beginning to show. He immediately took back his words and tried again.

"I mean," he said more slowly, "It's just that… It's really…" Giroro took a deep breath and started over for the third time.

"What I really mean to say is that you shouldn't worry about it. I'm willing to say that Natsumi will forgive you. If she doesn't, just know that she's holding a grudge against an _accident_. Besides, I've already forgiven you so you can count on me to support you to the end. That's a promise I'll make." Giroro smiled back, hoping it would help reassure Kururu.

"Thanks, Giroro."

Giroro kept his hand on Kururu's shoulder for a little while longer.

"You know, you're not the best at helping others emotionally, ku ku," Kururu teased. By the sound of it, it seemed that Kururu was feeling a bit better now that he was able to make fun of Giroro and chuckle.

"Hey! At least I tried. I got you chuckling again so that means I helped out, even if it was only a little." Giroro was happy that he could help even in the smallest amount and lifted his hand off of Kururu's shoulder. He would make sure he was there with Kururu when Natsumi arrived home, just to make sure that she didn't pound his face in. He promised he would be by his side and he was too honorable to break promises, especially to one of his platoon members.

"Umm, Giroro? Can you keep your hand there? Just for a little while longer," Kururu asked nervously.

It was an odd request, but he would do what he could to help Kururu cope. He placed his hand back on his shoulder. It was warm and his skin was smooth and moist.

"So, umm, another movie tonight?" Giroro asked, breaking the silence.

"Sure, ku ku."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hmm, I'm back. Anyways, I don't think this chapter is as good as the others (I had finals this week. wut.) Still hope you enjoy it. ^^  
**

* * *

**Chapter 16 – **

Natsumi would be arriving at noon. Giroro and Kururu rehearsed in hopes that it would help relieve the stress on their shoulders. Giroro was anxious to know if she really would apologize to Kururu, Dororo, and himself. Kururu, on the other hand, just didn't want her to do anything drastic like kick him out of the house. Throughout their rehearsals Giroro had to reassure Kururu that everything would turn out alright. The old Kururu was completely gone at that point; the usually apathetic frog was replaced with a more nervous one.

The whole platoon was standing near the front door, waiting for the moment when Natsumi would come home. Tamama was near a window, watching for her arrival. Keroro was sitting on a couch with Dororo, showing off Tamama and his card to him. The "card" was basically a sheet of paper folded in half with a crude get well letter. There were also the platoon members' names on it. All except Dororo, who went into his traumatic state, sad that they didn't ask him to sign the card.

Giroro and Kururu were sitting on the couch in front of the television, away from the others. Giroro didn't want the others to notice the way Kururu was acting; it'd probably cause a lot of unnecessary drama and complicate things.

Kururu was sweating, a rare sight to see. Giroro put his hand on his shoulders, which instantly broke Kururu's trance. He had used that technique multiple times as they were rehearsing and it had become second nature for Giroro. Kururu quickly turned his head towards Giroro.

"Did it happen again?" he asked.

"Yea," Giroro replied.

"I'm a mess, ku ku."

"Don't worry about it. After we greet Natsumi and she forgives you, it'll all be better."

"I hope so."

"She's here! She's here!" Tamama exclaimed. He ran to the door, waiting for Natsumi to step on the porch.

Kururu froze and started sweating again. This time, he was dripping with sweat. Giroro put his hand on his shoulder, but Kururu remained hypnotized by his fears. He then tried shaking Kururu, but still nothing happened. He ended up pushing him off the couch and carrying him to his feet, he had gone limp and felt like and oversized plush toy.

"Come on, Kururu!" he grunted, straining himself to drag him to his feet. Kururu was heavier than he looked. "Keroro! Come help me pick up Kururu!"

"Kero?" Keroro turned from admiring his card to the struggling Giroro. "Kero! Is Kururu dead?" he asked, not making a move to help Giroro.

"No, you idiot! He's just nervous! Weren't you paying attention to the story I told you?" he cried.

"Hmm. Not helping, you shouted at me again, Giroro." Keroro would've gotten a punch to the head, were it not for Giroro still trying to get Kururu to stand up. Had he gone unconscious from the sheer amount of nervousness?

"Story? Was it about how Natsumi got injured?" A crying Dororo asked from the other couch. He was still crouched and tears were still pouring from his eyes. "You didn't tell me the story of how she got injured. You said it was an accident and that's it. Why'd you tell Keroro the whole story and not me?" Dororo cried even more; having him in trauma mode was bad enough, but making him even sadder while he was grieving was the worst that could happen.

"This isn't the time to feel miserable over little things like that, Dororo! Help me lift him up to his feet!"

No reply.

"I'll help you, Giroro!" Tamama left the door unattended and ran towards the two. Unfortunately, he tripped over the rug on the floor and came tumbling towards Giroro and Kururu. He crashed into them and the three were spread out across the floor, all of them dazed.

So much for no unnecessary drama.

The lock to the front door clicked open, and Aki Hinata appeared at the door.

"What happened here? Why is Dororo crying and why do you three look like you're dead on my floor?" she asked, looking at the mess of frogs on her living room floor

Keroro spoke up, being the only one who was in any condition to speak.

"Well, you see, these three were fighting over who would get to give Natsumi the card, so I had to stop them. I think I went a little too rough on them though." Giroro, who could still hear his lies, felt even more inclined to give Keroro a piece of his mind, if only he was in the condition to.

"And why is Dororo crying?"

"Him? I don't remember."

"Keroro, you're so mean!" Dororo was crying at his worst; three trauma-inducing incidents, and it was only halfway through the day.

"Mama-dono, why are you home so early? Is it because Natsumi's coming home today?" Keroro asked.

Aki's mood shifted down a bit at the question. "No, the doctors said that she would need about one or two more days. Don't worry though, she's fine. I also bought star fruit for you frogs. Why don't you cut some pieces for your friends?" she said, trying to keep a positive attitude.

"Ok, I will." Keroro said, grabbing the bag full of star fruit and running towards the kitchen.

Aki Hinata stayed behind and helped the rest of the platoon recover from that dramatic episode. Giroro didn't know how she did it, but she managed to snap Kururu out of his nervousness.

After Tamama got back up on his feet, he thanked Aki and headed straight for the fruit.

"Keroro better not be eating all the star fruit," he said as he ran towards the kitchen.

"T-thank you," Giroro said to Aki, grateful that she brought Kururu back to normality.

"No problem. Sometimes I wonder what you frogs do to get yourselves into these situations," she said as she went to supervise the other two frogs in the kitchen, carrying Dororo, who was still crying, with her.

Giroro turned his attention back to Kururu, who was sitting on the couch lazily, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Kururu! What happened? You caused a whole lot of commotion earlier!" Giroro exploded.

"Did I? I don't remember, ku ku." Giroro sighed.

"Well, anyways, did you hear? Natsumi's not coming home for a bit longer, so I guess that gives us more time to get ready. Keroro's probably going to want to host a party with the extra time he's got on his hands.

"I don't want to do anything today, ku ku. We got worked up over nothing. Honestly, I don't think we should go as far as planning a party."

Keroro appeared out of the kitchen, with a plate full of cut up star fruit. He offered the two some fruit, which they politely declined.

"I'm too full," Kururu said.

"Full of what?" Keroro asked.

"What else? Curry, ku ku."

"Okay then. And you, Giroro?"

"No thanks, I had a sweet potato earlier. Maybe later."

"Suit yourself. I guess I'll be eating this whole plate then, kero!"

"No! Save one for me, Keroro!" Tamama yelled from the entrance to the kitchen.

"I gave you yours already, Tamama!"

"You bit off each slice, cheater!" Tamama whined.

"You saved some for me, right Keroro?" Dororo appeared behind Tamama. He eyes were still a bit teary, but he wasn't as sad as before.

"Uhh. Of course I did!" Keroro counted the number of pieces left on the plate. There were four. He had forgotten Dororo again.

"You didn't!" Dororo was on the verge again.

"Keroro, give him a piece!" Tamama yelled, who had gone into his state of rage. He was readying a Tamama Impact. He obviously didn't want to put up with anymore drama either.

"Okay, okay! Stop, Private!" he ran to Dororo and handed him two slices of the fruit. Those two pieces were supposed to be Giroro and Kururu's, but they didn't want theirs. Remember the two, he turned around to tell them where their slices had gone, but they weren't there.

Keroro narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Kero? Private Tamama, have you noticed anything different about Kururu and the corporal lately?"

"Umm, nope!" Tamama was snacking on a piece of extra star fruit that Dororo had given him.

"What about you, Dororo?" he asked.

"Now that you mention it, they have been spending more time together ever since Kururu and Giroro moved into your room."

"Kururu and Giroro live in your room, Keroro? Why didn't you tell me, I want to live with you, Keroro!"

Keroro freaked and started spitting out excuses.

"It's not permanent and it's crowded in there. You don't want to live in my room!" he exclaimed, beads of sweat gathering on his forehead.

"I don't care! I will live in your room from now on too!" Tamama said happily.

"What about me?" Dororo asked.

"Hmm. Tell you what? I'll let you two stay in my room if you help me spy on Giroro and Kururu. Make sure they're not doing anything suspicious, okay?"

"Spying, Keroro? Isn't that wrong?" Dororo asked. His sense of goodness had gotten in the way.

"It's not wrong if it's to make sure nothing bad happens. What if they're planning to do something to you, Dororo? If you don't find out what they're planning, they might come and keep the three of us captive!"

"Are you sure, Keroro?" Dororo asked, surprised.

"Yes, I'm sure. We need to find out what those two are up to, kero kero."

"Yes sir!"


	17. Chapter 17

**Heh, so, after a long hiatus (I was busy with finalizing school concerns), I'm back. I finally got around to updating the story and posting the new chapter, and I hope you enjoy it. The reviews say so, and I got a few messages too, so I'm really happy. Just a little alert, I'm almost certain my writing style may have shifted a bit while I was gone. My friend gave me some tips and I think I based this chapter on them. Well, whatever the case, here it is.  
**

**c:  
**

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**Chapter 17 – Natsumi's Arrival  
**

Giroro had managed to slip past the other three without alerting them of his departure. He grabbed Kururu by the arm and started half-dragging half-carrying him towards his tent in Keroro's room. He was sure that the lingering drama with Keroro, Dororo, and Tamama would only lead to more misfortune. Giroro opened the door to Keroro's room with his free hand, making sure to keep a tight grip on Kururu, who, by the weight of his body, still felt rather limp. He opened the door and lugged Kururu along with him. As tempting as it was to just drop Kururu on the spot and close the door behind him, Giroro took the extra steps to bring him to a more comfortable location.

Giroro threw Kururu onto the sleeping bag; his concern for Kururu's physical wellness had diminished and he longed for a break. Kururu landed on his back and turned his head towards him.

"Kururu, Why're you so heavy?" He moaned and stretched his fatigued arms as best as he could.

He evaded the question.

"You know, I was perfectly capable of walking by myself, ku ku."

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU?!" Giroro stormed.

"I wanted your touch." It was unclear whether or not he was serious or just messing with Giroro's head.

"W-what did you say?"

Giroro's face glowed pink at the remark while Kururu snickered and replied only with his usual "ku ku."

Now that the awkward mood had settled in after that unexpected comment from Kururu, Giroro began to question himself, wondering why he had dragged Kururu along with him in the first place. He already knew why he himself had left; Keroro was a magnet for all sorts of drama. Whether it be star fruit or Gundams, Keroro never failed to rile up the rest of the platoon, and his drama-inducing actions became a common occurrence.

Still, Giroro was at a standstill trying to find any sort of plausible and realistic reason for bringing Kururu along. Was he still concerned for Kururu's emotional wellness? Probably, so Giroro added that to his possible list of reasons. Or maybe, Giroro had grown accustomed to the sergeant major's company. He hadn't thought about it much, but being with Kururu even for a little while of the day had become a daily habit of his. Thinking about it became even more confusing for him, so he decided to save that for later as a question he would ponder in his spare time.

"_But perhaps Kururu's just manipulating me so that I feel this way," _Giroro thought to himself. An instant later, shame washed over him for thinking of something as selfish as that. "_Kururu can be a decent guy… after you get past all his weirdness… and sadism…"_

"Ku ku, now that you've brought me here, what do you intend to do?" Kururu asked, still lying down on the sleeping bag with his hands behind his head. He looked so relax and if someone had seen him at the moment, one wouldn't guess that he had recently gone through such an emotional breakdown.

"Umm… I… uhh… what about… movies?" Giroro asked. He was still a bit flustered by what Kururu had said earlier and watching a movie together seemed like the only thing he could think of while he was being buried by the questions left over from his own indecisiveness.

"No, I'm getting bored of that," he said lazily.

If not movies, then what else? Giroro didn't know what else Kururu enjoyed doing besides being at his computer and messing with people, and Giroro didn't like the idea of toying with other people's minds. It felt wrong, even for a "heartless" soldier such as himself.

"Fine! You think of something, or else I'll just leave you there and I'll polish my gun. His threats had no effect on Kururu.

"…I don't know, ku ku."

Giroro sighed in frustration.

Undecided about what to do next, the two exchanged small talk, talking about whatever came to their mind, which wasn't much. Still, it was enough to keep them occupied and distracted enough to not notice a blue Keronian staring at them through an opening in the ceiling.

Dororo, reluctant and concerned for Giroro and Kururu's privacy, felt awful for spying on the two, but Keroro said it would be for the best. Even if he didn't agree with him, he was also curious and hesitantly accepted the job. He continued to stare at them as he waited for something interesting and worthwhile to report back to Keroro. It was rather boring; they were just sitting there talking to one another. He could hear their voices, though, and listened in to their small conversations.

"So how are the repairs to your lab?" Giroro asked awkwardly. Giroro still seemed affected by those awkward words, and couldn't think straight enough to start an _interesting_ conversation. Honestly, he didn't care much about the progress on the repairs on the lab, but the silence in the room made him uneasy.

"What? Why are you asking?" It was such a weird question, especially coming from someone as uninterested as Giroro. Even Kururu knew that he could care less, which prompted him to ask such a question.

"Just wondering."

"I haven't even started yet, ku ku."

"What?!"

"I guess this place could work, as long as Keroro stays away from my stuff."

"I'm just glad the whole platoon isn't staying inside Keroro's room."

Giroro's comment grabbed Dororo's attention. He imagined the surprise and dread that would come to the corporal's face when he found out that Tamama and he were also moving in.

"Anyways, I'm not starting on repairs. I'll do it later when this Natsumi incident blows over."

The conversation so far didn't seem at all suspicious to Dororo, and he was tempted to leave and report nothing out of the ordinary. The conversation dragged on and on, and Dororo was getting bored.

As if to add a touch of interest to this otherwise bland environment, a doorbell could be heard from the front door. The three Keronians turned towards the sound. Kururu and Giroro began to walk out of the room to find out who was at the door, and Dororo followed suit, but in a more concealed manner, to eliminate the risk of being found by the other two.

Kururu and Giroro had barely walked back into the Hinata house when they saw Natsumi standing cheerfully at the doorway. She was wearing a standard pink cast on her right arm; it must've been badly bruised or burned or maybe both. Aside from a few bandages, everything about her seemed normal, and besides the cast, one would think that she had just broken a bone and nothing more. There was little to no evidence of the life-threatening that she had been through, and her emotions: her cheerful smile and bright aura, supported the fact.

Giroro immediately turned his head towards Kururu, and as expected, he had gone stiff, petrified by her presence.

"_Natsumi isn't supposed to be here for a few more days. Well, at least that's what Aki said,"_ Giroro thought.

Natsumi greeted Keroro and Tamama, who opened the door for her and gave her their makeshift card, with a surprisingly violence-free and caring demeanor. It was truly a heartfelt moment, one that Giroro felt torn apart by.

"_Had she forgiven Kururu? Is she going to apologize?"_

Natsumi then broke her embrace with Keroro and Tamama and walked over to Giroro, whose hand was on Kururu's shoulder by instinct. She scooped the both of them up in her arms and hugged them tight. It was a firm grab and Giroro felt the wind being squeezed out of him. He struggled to say something, but it was just too tight. Natsumi didn't seem to care, and if this was revenge for what had happened, it sure was painful, but of course, Natsumi only cared to make amends.

Still hugging them close, she said, "I'm sorry."

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**Any complaints? Don't hesitate to tell me.  
**

**c:  
**


	18. Chapter 18

**Heyy, finally got to updating this story. School's been the reason I can't write as much as I want to, but I'll have to live with it. It's been so long, I hope my readers are still on! Anyways, this chapter was written over the course of two weeks, so it may sound a bit awkward, but anyways, enjoy!  
**

**Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. It's only been two or three months, but I can tell that my writing style has changed a bit over those three months. Thanks for all your advice!  
**

**On an unrelated note, if you'd like a Pokemon and KG crossover, I've written one. It rarely gets any views, and I hope to promote it here.  
**

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**Chapter 18 – **

Giroro could only stay motionless as Natsumi hugged him and Kururu with a death grip. Giroro, overcoming the initial surprise of Natsumi's reaction, tried to see how Kururu was handling the situation.

_He better not start crying._

Giroro tried his best to turn his head, but was easily stopped by the pressure Natsumi was using against them as she held them even closer and tighter to her chest. Being this close to Natsumi was more than enough to set Giroro steaming in embarrassment, but Natsumi wasn't the priority right now.

"N-Natsumi!" he said, his voice voice muffled by Natsumi's body. Upon hearing a faint cry from Giroro, she released the pressure on both of the frogs and held them to eye level.

"Yes?" she asked as she awkwardly held the two by the head.

"Umm… you're n-not mad? Kururu didn't mean it!" he burst, but not without taking a quick, but thorough glance at Kururu. He was definitely stiff, but at least he wasn't crying. It would be a humiliating sight, for both Giroro and Kururu.

"We didn't get a hug like that…" Giroro turned his head towards Keroro and Tamama, who were moping and whining because of the unequal greeting Natsumi had given. Natsumi, taking the hint and placing Kururu and Giroro gently on the ground, quickly turned around and walked towards the other two, scooping them up in her arms, but it was hardly a hug. She held Keroro by the head and pinned him against the wall while keeping Tamama close, who was giggling arrogantly.

"You didn't do anything dumb, right, stupid frog?" she asked suspiciously.

"Natsumi! You think that we'd do something bad while you're not around? Where is your faith in us?" he asked, struggling to articulate the words through the hard material of the wall.

Before she could give a reply to Keroro, her mother appeared from the kitchen.

"Natsumi?"

"Mama!" Natsumi cried happily as she dropped the Tamama and Keroro on the ground, sprinting towards her mother to embrace her.

"Are you okay? You didn't have to walk all the way home," she said worriedly. Already, her motherly instincts were catching up to her.

"I'm fine, Mama, really," she assured.

Aki paused for a moment to behold her daughter, a miracle when it came to hardiness and recovery, before finally holding her close in one final embrace. Natsumi complied and they shared a special moment.

Just as they broke their embrace, another voice could be heard. This one was much quieter and more timid than the last one, which happened to belong to her mother. Natsumi began to walk towards the source of the sound, before being greeted by Dororo, who turned the corner and was tearing up.

"Natsumi!" Dororo cried. He jumped up and was caught by Natsumi, who gave him one of her hugs. To the other frogs, it seemed like Dororo had gotten the best hug of them all; it wasn't too tight that he couldn't breathe, and it was tight enough for him to feel her body heat radiating against his own skin. He definitely looked like he enjoyed the hug, judging by the shiny expression in his eyes. The rest of the platoon looked down in envy.

After a few more minutes of reacquainting, everyone sat down at the dining table to share a special meal prepared by Natsumi's mother: cowflesh soup. Keroro had three trips to the soup bowl and back, amazing even Tamama. Dororo sat next to Aki, who had just poured him some soup, and Natsumi. He was definitely glad that Natsumi had returned from her painstakingly long visit from the hospital.

Giroro, on the other hand, sat at the opposite end of the table. He wasn't mad at Natsumi's return, but he'd told himself that he'd take care of Kururu when the time came, and Kururu was definitely in need of some form of help; he was still stiff, almost convincing Giroro that this must've been some cruel trick played on him by Kururu. Giroro squished the skin, making sure it wasn't some inflatable Kururu doll. Sure enough, it was the real thing. Giroro waved his hand in front of Kururu, hoping for some sort of response, but as a doll would, he sat still.

Natsumi, who had been looking at the two for the past five minutes, excused herself from the conversation she was sharing with Dororo and her mom and walked around to the opposite end of the table to meet Giroro and Kururu. Giroro stared at her as she approached.

"Is something wrong with Kururu?" she inquired with a curious look on her face.

"He's j-just really nervous," Giroro said carefully. He didn't want to offend Natsumi and have the risk of being pummeled for it later. Natsumi stood puzzled and then leaned down towards Kururu's eye level. Giroro winced as Natsumi began waving her own hand in front of Kururu's face in another attempt to bring him back to attention, but to no avail. As a last resort, Natsumi gently poked him, which seemed to had sent a jolt through Kururu's body. He flinched and then began to fall over to his side. Giroro, quick to react, hopped down from his seat to catch Kururu's falling body.

"I-I think I'll take him somewhere where I can… work better," he mumbled, unsure of himself. He grunted as he trudged Kururu's body away from the dinner table. Everone watched the pair of frogs leave together in a tangled and dragged mess across the house to the secret base.

When he was sure that he was out of the others' sight as he made a turn into Keroro's room, Giroro placed Kururu gently on another sleeping bag.

_How often have I had to deal with Kururu like this?_

Giroro gently shook Kururu; this was getting ridiculous.

"Kururu! Soldier!" he shouted to his face despite being inches away from him.

"Kururu! Wake up!" he repeated, frustration creeping into his voice.

With no reply for the millionth time, Giroro began thinking of the worst possible outcomes. He wasn't a pessimist; he was more of a realist, but given the circumstances, Giroro could only think of the worst situations.

_Is he in some sort of coma?_

_Was he petrified by the presence of Natsumi?_

"Kururu…" his voice had become weak and it had become a pain to even attempt to scream at the volume that he had started at. Giroro looked as much of a mess as Kururu did, except Kururu was as still as a statue, lying down on the sleeping bag.

Giroro's eyes slowly twitched open, presenting Keroro, Tamama, Dororo, and, surprisingly, Kururu, who looked as normal as he ever did. Giroro shook the grogginess out of his head and lifted his head from his once-clenched arms.

"Kururu? But when..?" he began in disbelief.

"It's been an hour since I came to and noticed you sleeping with your head in your arms. It was kind of cute actually, so I decided to not wake you," he said with a slight snicker. He had total disregard for Keroro, Tamama, and Dororo, and even made it sound like he wanted the other three to hear his flirtatious comments.

"Shut up," Giroro lashed, blushing. He couldn't believe how Kururu was treating the situation. "I thought you had gone into some panic-induced coma."

Giroro turned to the other three frogs, who were staring at Giroro with such caring eyes. His platoon, although incompetent at times, was really something.

"Where are the others?" Giroro asked. He didn't wasn't sure if hearing Natsumi's name would put Kururu at risk of going into that weird state of his, and Giroro didn't want to take any chances.

"You mean Natsumi and Aki?" Keroro asked. "They're taken care of. I told Angol Mois to make up an excuse to keep them out of the base for a bit while we checked up on you and Kururu. You know nobody can resist Mois," he said cheekily.

Giroro let out a sigh of relief. At least Natsumi wouldn't be showing up anytime soon. He wanted to get reacquainted with her after all this time away from her, but Giroro was truly concerned about Kururu. If Kururu ever had another one of those episodes of his, it would've been a disaster if he hadn't escaped from it. It would devastate not just the invasion, but Giroro's newfound friendship with him, if one could call it that.

"Well, Tamama and I have got things to do, see you guys later!" Keroro said smugly as he walked away with Tamama closely following.

"K-Keroro! You forgot about me again!" Dororo cried as he ran to catch up with the two frogs ahead of him. The three exited Keroro's room, leaving Giroro and Kururu to themselves once again.

Giroro waited until he was sure Keroro was a fair distance away and then walked up to Kururu and calmly hugged him. Of course, Giroro didn't want the rest of the platoon to find out that he had grown a soft side for Kururu as a result of looking after him during all his panic episodes, and even now, Giroro still felt a tad awkward hugging Kururu the way he was now: a long embrace. Kururu didn't return the hug and only tried his best to stifle a snicker as to not ruin the moment he had only dreamed about in the past.

Giroro broke the embrace quickly and looked Kururu in the eye. Instead of a loving look common in situations like the one that Giroro and Kururu were in, Giroro returned a concerned and slightly irritated look towards Kururu.

"Don't ever do that again," Giroro said. All seriousness that was expected of the corporal had returned.

"Ku ku ku."


End file.
